Italy's 'Miracle': Art, Design and Advertising (1948–1968) in Lonato

Italy's 'Miracle': Art, Design and Advertising (1948–1968)

From 26 March to 7 June 2026 the Sala del Capitano at the Rocca di Lonato del Garda hosts an exhibition exploring the visual culture of Italy's postwar economic boom: graphic design, advertising and product design that helped shape the Made in Italy identity.

• Location: Rocca di Lonato del Garda, Via Rocca 2
• Dates: 26/03/2026 - 07/06/2026
• Opening hours: 10:00 - 17:00
• Admission: € 6
• Curated by: Fondazione Massimo e Sonia Cirulli (collection)
• More info: lonatoturismo.it

The show brings together posters, photographs and design drawings from the Fondazione Massimo e Sonia Cirulli collection to recreate the optimistic atmosphere that, between the late 1940s and the 1960s, reshaped Italian customs and visual language. The selection highlights how creativity and industry combined to produce objects and images that became internationally recognized symbols.

Three thematic sections:

"Pubblicità bambina" (Childlike advertising): this section focuses on advertising that used reassuring, joyful imagery to erase memories of wartime scarcity. Works by leading Italian graphic artists illustrate a renewed visual rhetoric.

"Italy on the move": the second section examines leisure, travel and mobility — weekend escapes, seaside holidays and the rise of small cars and scooters — and the advertising campaigns that shaped new aspirations.

Textile industry: the final section showcases textile design and pattern experimentation, with contributions from artists and designers who helped relaunch a sector that soon became competitive internationally.

This exhibition is recommended for visitors who want to trace the aesthetic and cultural origins of Made in Italy through archival materials that combine artistic value and communicative purpose.