The 2026/2027 calendar of Villa Monastero presents a rich programme of initiatives and events inspired by the desire to enhance the collections of the House Museum, offering new perspectives on the artistic and botanical heritage preserved within the Villa, alongside meaningful and carefully selected comparisons with loans from public and private collections.
Following the traditional cultural activities dedicated during February, March, and April to Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day, Father’s Day, and Mother’s Day — featuring new interpretative itineraries and guided tours — the following months will host a series of exhibitions and initiatives curated by Anna Ranzi, Conservator of the House Museum.
“The cultural programme of Villa Monastero,” state the President of the Province of Lecco, Alessandra Hofmann, and Provincial Councillor for Culture and Cultural Heritage, Silvia Bosio, “once again confirms the quality and strong appeal of this extraordinary place, which is not only one of the most beloved historic residences on Lake Como, but also a living heritage site capable of telling its story through exhibitions, itineraries, collaborations, and ever-new initiatives. Each proposal is the result of thoughtful and purposeful work: Conservator Anna Ranzi carefully weaves the cultural programme starting from the Villa’s history, its collections, its Botanical Garden, and the heritage it preserves, creating coherent narratives that give depth and meaning to every initiative. The calendar we are presenting is rich, high-quality, and designed for diverse audiences, with the aim of increasingly promoting Villa Monastero as a place of culture and beauty, serving as a driving force for the entire Museum System. In particular, we are confident that the exhibition dedicated to Japan — featuring the Villa’s Shibayama cabinet and the Nancy Martin Stetson Kimono Collection — will greatly attract visitors, offering a particularly refined and fascinating experience. We would also like to thank all the public and private institutions that, together with the Province of Lecco, contribute to making such a high-level cultural programme possible.”
“The sharing of best practices, also through the museum networks of which Villa Monastero is part, offers valuable inspiration and helps create relationships that grow stronger over time by combining expertise, projects, and shared goals, thus creating a truly integrated cultural system with broad, rich, and diversified proposals,” highlights Anna Ranzi, Conservator of the House Museum and Coordinator of the Museum System of the Province of Lecco.
Exhibition and Event Programme
The first major exhibition event took place with the December exhibition Marco and Rosa De Marchi Mountaineers, currently ongoing and organised in connection with the Winter Olympics. Alongside it, from February 13 to March 15, the installation One Hundred Years of Skiing was presented as part of the project ConoSCIamo. Stories of Skiing and Mountains, supported by the Museum System of the Province of Lecco and involving 34 museums.
From March 29 to June 21, the initiative Camellias on Lake Como 2026 will take place, held annually in collaboration with Villa Carlotta and Villa Melzi in Bellagio (15th edition). The exhibition presents two Savonnerie carpets from the Villa’s museum collections, restored in 2025 thanks to the support of the Timken Foundation, together with two antique Japanese porcelain tea sets inspired by floral and landscape motifs, and two neoclassical vases decorated with botanical ornaments connected to Villa Monastero’s Botanical Garden.
From May 15 to July 19, also in relation to the 2026 Winter Olympics, the exhibition Symphony of Bodies in Motion will be presented in the exhibition space, featuring an important installation by Natino Chirico dedicated to sport, together with a selection of ten scarf designs and three gala dresses illustrating sporting activities, created by fashion designer Ken Scott. The exhibition results from the recent collaboration with the Fondazione Ken Scott following last year’s exhibition Ken Scott. Fashion and Flowers at Villa Monastero, dedicated to the Villa’s Botanical Garden on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Province of Lecco.
In connection with International Museum Day 2026, whose theme is Museums Uniting a Divided World, Villa Monastero presents the initiative The Rediscovered Canella: Giuseppe Canella’s View of Lake Como Donated by the Timken Foundation. The event is organised in collaboration with the weekend promoted by the Coordination of Villas and Museums of Lake Como, dedicated to The Journey: Routes Around the Lake Between Landscape and Inspiration. Specifically, the initiative offers an unprecedented “pictorial journey on water” with Giuseppe Canella and Vincenzo Bianchi, presenting Lake Como in the mid-19th century as a sublime and romantic landscape.
From May 4 to May 31, during the annual FuoriOrticola event, in which the Museum and Garden participate every year, visitors will be able to access the renovated Nuns’ Garden through an independent educational itinerary dedicated to the botanical species in this new section, using a newly developed and freely accessible Web App.
From June 22 to September 15, the year’s most important initiative will take place: the exhibition Japan on the Lake: Villa Monastero’s Shibayama Cabinet and the Nancy Martin Stetson Kimono Collection, organised in collaboration with Gruppo Mantero. The exhibition revisits Villa Monastero’s collections influenced by Japonisme in light of the new attribution of the cabinet preserved in the museum’s Oriental Drawing Room. Twenty-four late 19th- and 20th-century kimono from the extraordinary Nancy Martin Stetson Collection — now owned by Gruppo Mantero — will be displayed, alongside works from the Museo della Seta and private collections. Numerous related cultural activities are also planned, including musical events, workshops, and themed guided tours.
On June 26, on the occasion of the European Archaeology Days, the itinerary Villa Monastero Between Classicism, Eclectic Taste and German Archaeological Collecting will be proposed in connection with the archaeology conference held at Villa Melzi.
The second edition of Shared Itineraries in the Museums of the Province of Lecco Museum System has also been organised following the successful collaboration between museums launched last year with the initiative Holidaying on the Water, created for the 30th anniversary of the Province. From May 30 to August 31, the exhibition Enchanted Peaks will take place at Villa Monastero in Varenna, at the Spazio d’Arte in Bellano, and at the MUU Museo del Latte e della Storia della Muggiasca, dedicated to mountain-themed art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a special focus on painter and mountaineer Paolo Punzo.
During June, July, and August, the itinerary Green Itineraries: Journey Through the Botanical Gardens of the Museum System of the Province of Lecco will offer themed initiatives, small exhibitions, and botanical insights at Villa Monastero, the Botanical Garden of Valmadrera, and the De Ponti Garden in Calolziocorte.
As part of the Weekend della Rete dell’800, from September 26 to October 25 the exhibition Marco and Rosa De Marchi: A Villa, A Collection, A Love Story will focus on Marco De Marchi (1872-1936) and Rosa De Marchi (1865-1951), whose legacy made Villa Monastero publicly accessible. The initiative has been organised to mark the 90th anniversary of the death of Marco De Marchi, commemorated this year, and features a selection of works once belonging to the family and donated by their descendants in recent years, including clothing, books, and furnishing objects. The initiative was developed in collaboration with the Museo del Risorgimento di Milano, whose headquarters, Palazzo Moriggia, once belonged to the De Marchi couple themselves.
Also during the same period, a special exhibition dedicated to the Villa’s 19th-century collections will explore The Painted Ceiling of Villa Monastero’s Master Bedroom: A Curious Neo-Tiepolo Style Testimony on Lake Como.
Between October and November, the traditional documentary exhibition The Archive Reveals Itself – Scapigliatura Letters in the Villa Monastero Archive will take place, accompanied by related musical initiatives.
In November and December, the exhibition The Revealed Painting: The Child Redeemer by Moretto from a private collection will present this extraordinary recently attributed painting.
All exhibitions are included in the admission ticket to the House Museum of Villa Monastero www.villamonastero.eu.
In autumn, the Archaeological Collection deposited by the Italian Ministry of Culture and the new museum section dedicated to it will also be presented.
The initiatives already scheduled for 2027 are also being announced in advance.
For spring/summer 2027, the exhibition Dining in The Betrothed is planned, featuring set tables and Lombard still lifes on loan from the Musei Civici di Cremona, organised for the bicentenary of the Ventisettana edition of The Betrothed.
In autumn, the exhibition The Revealed Painting: Saint Charles Borromeo will be held on the occasion of the 460th anniversary of the closure of the Monastery of Santa Maria in Varenna by Charles Borromeo, in collaboration with Palazzo Borromeo.
In winter, the exhibition Kees and Guggenheim in Varenna will commemorate the 120th anniversary of the death of Walter Kees, the penultimate private owner of Villa Monastero.
