Luigi Serafini at the Labirinto della Masone: a journey between dream and reality

The Labirinto della Masone in Fontanellato is preparing to host an exhibition-event dedicated to Luigi Serafini (Rome, 1949), artist and author of the famous Codex Seraphinianus. From Serafini to Luigi. The Egg, the Skeleton, the Rainbow, this is the title of the exhibition, will be on view from March 29 to July 13, 2025, and will offer a site-specific itinerary curated by the artist himself together with the Franco Maria Ricci Foundation.

The opening is scheduled for March 28 by invitation only. The exhibition is part of the Masone Labyrinth’s 10th anniversary celebrations and represents a symbolic return to its origins: it was Franco Maria Ricci himself, in 1981, who first published the Codex Seraphinianus, revealing Serafini’s visionary genius to the world. The exhibition follows the only temporal subdivision accepted by the artist, dividing into three sections: the pre-Codex era, the Codex era and the post-Codex era.

From Seraphinian prehistory to the Codex

A significant part of the exhibition is devoted to the production prior to the creation of Codex Seraphinianus. This section will display the artist’s first completed work, a depiction of the family home in Pedaso, Marche, a place Serafini ironically refers to as his aboriginal land. This deep connection to childhood and the land has been a major influence on his imagery, and the exhibition documents it through previously unpublished works and materials, unknown even to the most careful scholars of his work.

Alongside these early artistic experiments, Serafini’s formative years as an architecture student and the experience of a crucial trip to the United States are presented, moments that helped define his outlook on the world and his aesthetic research. The exhibition then leads to the Codex era, centered on the monumental illustrated encyclopedia of a nonexistent world, written in a language that defies all logic, suspended between scientific rigor and fantastic delirium. Codex Seraphinianus, published by Ricci in 1981, is still a cult object and has fascinated personalities such as Italo Calvino, Federico Fellini and Tim Burton. An immersion designed by Maddalena Casalis in collaboration with the artist is dedicated to this section, allowing visitors to enter the heart of his most famous work. The illustrated plates of the Codex dialogue with a series of three-dimensional sculptures, material transpositions of the visionary images in the book, further expanding the perception of his universe.

Beyond the Codex: between art and memory

The third and final phase of the exhibition explores the production following Codex, a period that, according to Serafini, cannot be rigidly segmented because it is already contained in the creative core of the previous work. It is Italo Calvino himself, in the first issue of FMR magazine, who identifies three recurring elements in Serafini’s universe: the skeleton, the egg and the rainbow. These symbols run through his entire artistic production and become the common thread of the exhibition.

The post-Codex era is manifested through sculptures, paintings and photographs, presented in an exhibition mode that reflects the artist’s ironic and labyrinthine attitude. Among the works on display, special attention is given to the Domus Seraphiniana, the artist’s Roman home-studio, which is in danger of disappearing. The exhibition offers the public the chance to explore it virtually, restoring its atmosphere and visionary character. The layout plays with references, quotations and visual pitfalls, immersing visitors in an experience that oscillates between perception and illusion. The goal is to get the viewer lost in a universe suspended between the real and the surreal, in perfect harmony with the structure of the Labirinto della Masone, a space that in itself embodies the concept of bewilderment and discovery. To accompany the exhibition, a book of the same name will be published by the Franco Maria Ricci publishing house.

Practical information

Through March 30, 2025 t he exhibition is open daily, except Tuesdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., last admission at 4:30 p.m.

From March 31, 2025 the exhibition is open daily, except Tuesdays, from 10:30 am to 7 pm, last admission at 5:30 pm.

Luigi Serafini at the Labirinto della Masone: a journey between dream and reality

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