Two exhibitions at Hotel de Russie in Rome: from Dumas to Salgado

Hotel de Russie in Rome hosted two exhibitions in 2021, juxtaposing literary and photographic narratives. The first, from June 21 to July 2 in the Sala Diaghilev, featured Carlo Rispoli's faithful reproduction of the original manuscript pages of Alexandre Dumas's "The Count of Monte Cristo" set at the hotel, watercolors, comic panels, and Simon Clavière-Schiele's portraits of Dumas and General Dumas. The second, "Dalla mia terra alla Terra" (September 29 to October 31), presented 17 photographs by Sebastião Salgado, selected with Contrasto and Alessia Paladini Gallery, depicting unknown workers and refugees from Africa, Brazil, the Americas, Mozambique, and Rwanda, including images from his "Genesis" series and recent works. The exhibitions were curated by the hotel and collaborators. Salgado's work also previews his "Amazônia" show at MAXXI, curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado. The article contrasts Dumas's romanticized view of the poor with Salgado's unflinching realism, and compares the Count of Monte Cristo as a Nietzschean superman figure to Salgado's humanistic descent into suffering.