Nature's Wonder: Baroque Paintings and Taxidermy at Palazzo Reale, Milan

The exhibition 'Il meraviglioso mondo della natura' at Palazzo Reale's Sala delle Cariatidi in Milan re-presents a late 17th-century cycle of naturalistic paintings attributed to Il Grechetto, originally from Palazzo Verri on Via Monte Napoleone. The paintings, long forgotten after the palace's sale, were relocated in the mid-20th century to Palazzo Sormani (Milan's Civic Library). Now, the installation reconstructs their original arrangement and natural lighting, with effects that change throughout the day. The first room depicts the myth of Orpheus charming animals, surrounded by detailed botanical landscapes. The second room is a Wunderkammer featuring Caravaggio's 'Canestro di frutta', an ancient botanical manuscript, Dürer's engraving of a rhinoceros, and display cases with curiosities. In the third room, taxidermied animals from the Museo di Storia Naturale are posed on pedestals, bringing the painted creatures to life. The final room screens a film on medieval and later representations of animals and plants, including exotic subjects like the rhinoceros in a Pietro Longhi work that inspired Peter Greenaway's 'Lo zoo di Venere'. The exhibition also highlights how 16th-century cartographers and travelers described global flora and fauna, and notes that Christopher Columbus brought the Brazilian 'Ara' parrot to Europe, later depicted by Raphael in the Vatican Logge. The show offers an unprecedented reading of the plant and animal world.