A masterpiece of a day
From dawn to dusk in the nineteenth century. A journey through time in paintings.
Palazzo Pallavicini, Bologna
From October 3, 2026 to January 17, 2027
An exhibition curated by Francesca Sinigaglia. A Vertigo Syndrome project.
At six in the morning, a farmer heads out into the fields. At noon, the light blinds a bay in Brittany. At midnight, Monet’s water lilies float in the darkness. Between them lies an entire century, all contained within a single day.
A Masterpiece of a Day brings together more than one hundred paintings from nineteenth-century Europe. Not by school, not by style, not by nation. By time of day.
The galleries do not follow the movements of art; they follow the twenty-four hours: twelve sections of two hours each, six of daylight and six of darkness, from dawn to night.
The exhibition is produced by Vertigo Syndrome. The loans come from Italian public museums, such as the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo Da Vinci, from European museums, and from private collections that rarely open their doors: among them, Monet and Renoir.
The starting point is simple. In the nineteenth century, time ceases to be the backdrop and becomes the subject. It is the century in which painters leave behind grand history and mythology, step outdoors, and begin to observe everyday life: the light at a particular hour, breakfast, the return from the fields, the city beginning to race.
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Useful Information
Palazzo Pallavicini, Bologna
From October 3, 2026 to January 17, 2027
Opening hours and tickets at www.iltempodipinto.it
Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm (last admission one hour before closing)
Closed on MondaysTickets:
- Full price: €16.00
- Reduced: €14.00
- Children (7–12 years): €6.00
Curator: Francesca Sinigaglia
Works on display: approximately 100, with loans from Italian and European public and private collections
Produced by: Vertigo Syndrome
Catalogue: Moebius Books Essays: Marco Bazzocchi, Maria Beatrice Bettazzi, Vincenza Maugeri, Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli Artwork entries: Francesca Sinigaglia, Federico Troletti, Cinzia VirnoCONTACTS
info@iltempodipinto.it | Tel. +39 351 656 0343 | www.vertigosyndrome.it
FB @vertigosyndrome | IG @vertigo_syndromePress Office
Studio Esseci Comunicazione
Attn. Simone Raddi, simone@studioesseci.net
Tel. 049 663499 | www.studioesseci.net -
Press Release
Masterpieces at Unexpected Times of Day
It begins with awakening, with nature still suspended and the first light filtering into homes in the paintings of Antonio Fontanesi, Luigi Bertelli and Augusto Majani. Then comes the bourgeois breakfast of Antonio Mancini and Alessandro Scorzoni. Outside, morning bursts into life: the laundresses and farmers of Francesco Paolo Michetti and Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, a world still rooted in the land, while the modern city is already rushing ahead on its own in the smoky London of Giovanni Boldini. At noon, time stands still in the blinding light of Renoir’s Bay of Douarnenez. Renoir. Then come the afternoon and the children at play in the paintings of Gaetano Chierici, followed by the golden sunset of Nino Costa and Mario de Maria. Evening closes with Monet’s nocturnal Water Lilies. Finally comes night, with Grimshaw’s moonlit visions and Natale Attanasio’s social commentary, before everything slips into dream and memory.The Hour Changes, and So Does the Atmosphere
The paintings are accompanied by historical scents and ambient sounds, designed to change from room to room as the hours pass, from the freshness of dawn to the dampness of night. And there is a soundtrack made of words: the verses of Gabriele D’Annunzio for the morning, the melancholy of Giacomo Leopardi at dusk.A Nineteenth-Century Day, Seen from Different Angles
The exhibition is accompanied by a monographic catalogue published by Moebius Books, exploring the same day from different perspectives: art, literature, the city, fashion, women. The essays are by Marco Bazzocchi, Maria Beatrice Bettazzi, Vincenza Maugeri and Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli. The artwork entries are by Francesca Sinigaglia, Federico Troletti and Cinzia Virno. Who Put the Hours Back in Order Behind the exhibition is Francesca Sinigaglia, art historian and director of Museo Ottocento Bologna, specializing in Bolognese art from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Her work here is to bring the great names into conversation with those no one remembers anymore: forgotten artists who return to the walls alongside Monet.Didn't Like It? We'll Give You Your Money Back
There is a rule that has always applied, and it applies to this exhibition too. Anyone who reaches the end of the exhibition and is not convinced can request a full refund of their ticket. No clauses, no explanations required. No exhibition of this calibre—or of lesser calibre—in Italy has done this before. The risk of boredom is ours, not the visitors’.