I Valania-Arrigoni: una dinastia di intermediari attivi nel Lombardo-Veneto nel XIX secolo
Olga Piccolo
The contribution aims to offer new insights into a little-known dynasty of intermediaries, although active in the Lombardy-Veneto region and internationally for over a century. The progenitor was Ignazio Valania, who in the first two decades of the 19th century, knew how to turn the mercantile opportunities caused by the Napoleonic requisitions in the Dipartimento del Serio to his advantage. Ignazio’s daughter married the Bergamasque pharmacist Prospero Arrigoni, an eclectic collector, connoisseur and art dealer. Identifying and reading local contemporary sources, manuscripts by Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle and Joseph Archer Crowe, and several letters from the British Library, the essay traces for the first time some relevant artworks from the Valania-Arrigoni collection. Prospero’s son was Carlo, husband of Sofia Arrigoni, owner of an antique shop in Milan. The essay presents the fortunate discovery – among the Archivio Centrale di Stato papers – of two postcards related to the post mortem exhibition of Sofia’s collection.