The fourth edition of the cultural series “Stasera al Museo. Le vie dell’amicizia” continues with a fresh theatrical event in the Salone d’Onore of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, Milan, Italy. On October 8 and 10, Misurare l’ombra. Fausto e Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi will be staged, written and directed by Chicco Dossi, with Edoardo Barbone and Simone Tudda.
Building on the success of Come fuoco. From Narcissus and Boccadoro by H. Hesse, the first of three theater productions organized by the Museum for this year, Misurare l’ombra debuts in October. It presents an original narrative of “how Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi built a house in fraternal concord.”
Set in Milan in the 1880s, the story follows Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi, scions of Milan’s aristocracy, as they inherit their family palace on Via Gesù and decide to renovate it. The result is a house that perfectly reflects the brothers’ eclectic tastes, evoking Renaissance splendor while blending it with the remarkable technological advances of the late nineteenth century.
Misurare l’ombra is a site-specific production whose title draws inspiration from the Latin proverb found in the Umbram ne metiare library: “non misurare l’ombra,” meaning not to count the days. The show offers a deep meditation on time, public and private life, transforming the museum into a stage where history and lived experience merge in a quiet dialogue that invites audiences to enter the folds of an era that has shaped the foundations of today’s Italy.
Director Chicco Dossi explains the vision: “How can the tastes of two people so opposite—Fausto, a volcanic adventurer, and Giuseppe, reserved and rooted in family—find such harmonious synthesis? Through the museum’s rooms and the artworks that inhabit them, we will trace Fausto and Giuseppe’s first night in the new home. We will see that this fraternal concord was not merely a starting point, but a destination: often the best choices are the ones that are shared.”
Leading the cast are Simone Tudda and Edoardo Barbone, who, alongside director Chicco Dossi, spent a period in training in preparation for the performance at Casa San Vito in Marche, the artist residence and new cultural partner of the Museum for this occasion.
To foster encounter and dialogue, the audience will have the opportunity to mingle before the show with a pleasant aperitif courtesy of Altemasi Trentodoc and Astro. Stelle d’Acqua Dolce aims to create a welcoming, home-like atmosphere—an uplifting moment of beauty steeped in art.
The Stasera al Museo program enjoys support from Regione Lombardia and the patronage of the Comune di Milano, underscoring the institutions’ commitment to culture alongside the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum.
The Museum extends its gratitude to Cavit, First, Scavia, Astro and Valverde—sponsors who believed in the Stasera al Museo project—and to Amarena Pictures, Camera di Commercio Milano Monza Brianza Lodi, Casa San Vito, Edge, IUAD, Monteverdi Festival, Radio Classica, Politecnico di Milano, and Vivaticket, partners of the series.
Photo credits: The photographs belong to the museum’s archive.
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