Vittorio Sgarbi's Secret Rooms Exhibition at Novara Castle

120 paintings and sculptures from the private collections of art critic Vittorio Sgarbi and his mother Rina Cavallini are on display at the Castello Sforzesco in Novara, a former prison recently restored. The exhibition, titled 'Le Stanze Segrete di Vittorio Sgarbi' (The Secret Rooms of Vittorio Sgarbi), opened on September 21 and covers works from the 15th to the 20th century, spanning Italian and European regions. Curated by Pietro Di Natale, it includes masterpieces such as Simone Cantarini's 'Allegory of Painting', Artemisia Gentileschi's 'Cleopatra', Guercino's 'Portrait of Doctor Francesco Righetti', and Guido Cagnacci's 'Allegory of Time'. Sgarbi describes his collecting as unpredictable: 'the hunt for paintings has no rules, no objectives, no landings'. The exhibition runs until January 14, 2018. Sgarbi hints at a future permanent museum in Ferrara's Castle, fulfilling a journey begun with his mother in the Ferrara region.