The Palazzo Madama exhibition opens at the Art Museum Riga Bourse in the presence of Minister of Culture Lāce and Minister of Foreign Affairs Braže. The exhibition is open for visitors until 24 August 2025.
On 19 May 2025, the Art Museum Riga Bourse hosted the opening of the exhibition Palazzo Madama. Arts and Crafts from Italy, 6th–19th Century, organized in collaboration with Palazzo Madama and the Fondazione Torino Musei, and coordinated by the Embassy of Italy in Riga.
The event was attended by the Minister of Culture, Agnese Lāce; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže; and the former President of the Republic, Valdis Zatlers. Representing Italy were Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa, Director of Palazzo Madama, and First Secretary Federico Palmieri, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy.
The exhibition presents to the Latvian public around one hundred works from the collections of Palazzo Madama—one of Europe’s leading museums of applied arts—curated by Director Villa together with the Director of the Latvian museum, Daiga Upeniece. Through materials, techniques, and crafted objects, the display narrates the long and intricate journey of Italian craftsmanship, from medieval workshops to the height of the Baroque: goldsmiths, glassmakers, cabinetmakers, and weavers who shaped the artistic imagination of Europe.
In her opening remarks, Minister Lāce emphasized that museum cooperation projects such as the one between the Art Museum Riga Bourse and Palazzo Madama reflect the vitality of Italy–Latvia bilateral relations not only in the cultural field but across the board. This was echoed by Dr. Palmieri, who highlighted the role of Italian cultural diplomacy in Latvia as a tool to foster new partnerships between professionals and institutions of the two countries.
The exhibition is open until 24 August 2025. A rich public program of talks, lectures, and collateral events is planned for the summer, aimed at enhancing the value of the exhibited heritage and showcasing the excellence of Italy’s cultural and creative sectors. A bilingual catalogue accompanies the exhibition, featuring an introductory text by the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ms. Maria Tripodi.
For more information and tickets, please visit the website of the Art Museum Riga Bourse.
Cover photo: Ieva Leiniša, LETA
Gallery photos: Jānis Deinats
