The exhibition trail
The Museo Giancarlo Vitali houses a permanent exhibition of one hundred works by the painter and engraver, who was born in Bellano in 1929.
The collection includes a significant selection from his vast output, spanning seventy years, and is displayed in the rooms on the ground floor of Palazzo Lorla, an ancient stately home located in the historic centre of Bellano, on the eastern shore of Lake Como.
The museum was created to pay tribute to an artist who had the ability to truly engage with the figurative themes of the 20th century, bringing out their defining characteristics to nourish his painting. Giancarlo Vitali was deeply rooted in the Lombard artistic tradition, and his art is in constant dialogue with art history, drawing inspiration from the lake and the land of his origins. These elements, often used as references and metaphors, have been translated into a pictorial language that has transcended regional boundaries, thanks in part to recognition from national and international critics. With the aim of promoting the cultural heritage of the area, the municipal administration has supported the restoration and redevelopment of several historic sites in the town.
One of these is the museum, housed in rooms that once hosted the workers’ club, a puppet theatre, a bakery and then the Cariboni grocery store.
The museum project is the result of a collaboration between the Municipality of Bellano and the ArchiViVitali ETS association, which gratefully accepted the donation of a considerable number of works from the artist’s heirs.
The redevelopment of the spaces and the design of the exhibition layout were entrusted to Vitali Studio.
Thanks to the support of private donors and Fondazione Cariplo, Sebino, Sorema, through a special fund with the Fondazione Comunitaria del Lecchese community foundation, ArchiViVitali was able to complete the project and, on 30 April 2025, handed the museum over to the Municipality of Bellano, which will manage it through Pro Loco Bellano as part of the new BAC (Bellano Arte Cultura) project.
THE TRAIL
The exhibition is arranged around a diverse itinerary, continuously interacting with the existing architectural elements, which have been given new visibility and function. This approach aims to preserve and amplify the bond of empathy and authenticity that historically connects Palazzo Lorla to the community of Bellano.
Giancarlo Vitali’s works are organised using analogical rather than chronological criteria, in harmony with the geometry of the new space.
The first room, divided by a reflective wall, introduces visitors to a double asymmetrical space. This is Vitali’s inner world: Germana (his lifelong partner), his family, his friends. Faces and figures reflected in one another, witnesses and interpreters of a profound lived experience and a specific sense of belonging to the local area.
The second room is characterised by contrasting circular shapes and unexpected viewpoints.
This section is also divided into two geometric spaces that celebrate Bellano as a living theatre, a constant source of inspiration for the artist, closely tied to a harsh everyday life: traditional still lifes arranged “on the table”, the same images that for centuries have been used to illustrate the vanity of colour and representations of the transience of time.
The third room is outdoors. The exit to the garden invites visitors to pause in front of a large mural entitled “Uccelli al Museo” (Birds at the Museum), a title borrowed from a small series of imaginative and ironic works that Giancarlo Vitali created on the subject of local birdlife.
This fresco, painted by Velasco Vitali as a tribute to his father as a painter, invites you to gaze out over the landscape, from the clear simplicity of the Casa Lorla to the park climbing up towards the Orrido Ravine.
It is also worth noting that the last owner of this house, now partly converted into a museum, was Agostino Lorla (1815–1888), a solitary man devoted to the garden of the Palazzo. A dog and bird lover, he had a talking parrot and wanted the windows on the top floor to be kept open at all times so swallows could fly in and nest freely.
The fourth space is a narrow corridor lined with tables laden with food – or what remains “after the feast” – leading to the big blue room.
The fifth and last room on the itinerary, is defined by a straight line centred on the painting “La festa è finita” (The party is over), which cuts across and contrasts two worlds: animals and nature, protagonists and victims of our voraciousness.
MUSEO GIANCARLO VITALI
Palazzo Lorla
Via Manzoni 50, Bellano
https://www.bacbellano.eu/en/siti-bac/giancarlo-vitali-museum/
Open every day, from 9 am to 7 pm
Ticket: 4 euro.
Ticket for Orrido, San Nicolao Arte Contemporanea and Museo Giancarlo Vitali: 12 euro.