Once again in 2025, on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September, the Lombardy 19th Century Network will light up the region with a widespread cultural experience: two days of celebrations in museums to experience the 19th century up close, with over 30 events including exhibitions, guided tours, workshops and special exhibitions, for all ages and interests. A journey through art, history and beauty, to discover together the timeless charm of the 19th century.
The Province of Lecco is participating in the 4th Weekend of the Lombardy 19th Century Network, with Villa Monastero in Varenna. on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September, it will be possible to visit the Ken Scott Fashion and Flowers exhibition at Villa Monastero, the result of a fruitful collaboration with the Ken Scott Foundation, which has made its extraordinary historical archive available for a thematic selection to mark the 30th anniversary of the Province of Lecco (1995-2025).
The initiative stems from the recently completed project involving the Villa Monastero Botanical Garden, which has enhanced the 19th-century aspect of the park, as desired by the penultimate owner, Walter Erich Jacob Kees. Specifically, the exhibition features the sartorial creations of the internationally renowned American artist and fashion designer who revolutionised the world of fashion in the 1950s. The works on display feature flowers and botanical essences, designed for fashion, in relation to the villa and its garden: dresses and accessories that are the result of the imagination and taste for colour that characterised her entire artistic production.
‘Our initiative is aimed at promoting the Villa Monastero Botanical Garden, supported by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan,’ emphasises Alessandra Hofmann, President of the Province of Lecco. “It celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Province of Lecco, featuring 30 dresses, 30 scarves and 30 objects by this extraordinary fashion designer, depicting the flowers found in the park and inside the villa, making our historic Larian residence even more attractive. The result of a fruitful collaboration between the Ken Scott Foundation and the Mantero Group, the exhibition has been visited by more than 100,000 people in two months. to allow access to the public who visit our lake in autumn, we have decided to keep it open until 10 October, also in connection with the Orticolario 2025/Eden event taking place at Villa Erba on Lake Como from 2 to 5 October.
The initiative is included in the admission ticket to the House Museum: for information: www.villamonastero.eu.
The Lombardy 19th Century Network
The Lombardy 19th Century Network brings together institutions that recognise their common identity in the artistic and cultural heritage of 19th-century Lombardy, their collections bearing witness to the richness, diversity and complexity of that era. Founded in 2004, the Network was re-established in 2019 thanks to the support of the Lombardy Region with the aim of enhancing and promoting places and collections linked in various ways to nineteenth-century culture.
The Lombardy 19th Century Network intends to develop study, research and enhancement projects, committing itself to spreading its cultural message in order to offer and guarantee a better proposal through integrated tools for guiding visitors around the area, with a view to consolidating the existing audience and attracting new visitors.
There are now 24 member organisations, and the aim is to open up to new institutions in order to bring together an increasingly widespread and rich cultural offering, responding to different needs and offering users new, effective and engaging ways to better appreciate the richness of the 19th century, including through the use of the channels at its disposal: the website, the section of the portal dedicated to education, the Facebook and Instagram social media pages and active collaboration with the Associazione Abbonamento Musei (Museum Subscription Association).
Once again, for 2025, the Lombardy 19th Century Network is proposing a large-scale celebration, a regional programme of events for a wide audience, diversified by age group and interests, but always attracted by 19th-century culture.
The programme, available on the Network’s website, includes more than 30 activities that allow the public to experience museums through guided tours, exhibition focuses and workshops.
The activities are spread over two days and calibrated to be short in duration and encourage the circulation of the public between the various institutions during the weekend, even in different cities or provinces of the region.