Marriage from the 18th century onwards told in an exhibition in Milan

It was set up in Palazzo Pirelli, in the foyer of the Regional Council, with objects and photographs from the Moglia Museum. From wedding dresses to old photographs it tells three centuries of history of the wedding ceremony.

MILAN – From wedding crowns, a very popular accessory for nineteenth-century brides, to the evolution of statues of the bride and groom for the wedding cake. And then the liberty wedding favors in white leather, the mass booklet that was given to the bride by her best friend, the three-dimensional wedding photos that could be looked at with special viewers, similar to small binoculars. There is the whole history of marriage in the foyer of Palazzo Pirelli, in Milan, where the exhibition “History of marriage between past and present” was inaugurated today. Vintage images, postcards and photographs of wedding albums alternate with antique prints from the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, documents and accessories dedicated to the history of marriage from the Marriage Museum of Moglia, in the province of Mantua.
“ This exhibition – explains the President of the Regional Council Federico Romani – is an extraordinary journey spanning three centuries through the history of marriage, but it is also the story of the evolution of Lombard and Italian society because marriage is part of our identity and has its roots in the Christian traditions of our country. This is why it is important to preserve the memory and pass it on to the younger ones.” For the secretary councilor of the Bureau Alessandra Cappellari, who promoted the initiative, the exhibition “is also a useful and important opportunity to support a project that has a cultural and social value for the territory such as the Marriage Museum of Moglia, born from the passion and experience of the photographer Gianni Bellesia. It is a private collection that must become a heritage available to all citizens, a study center on the history and evolution of marriage which, since its origins, has been at the basis. of our social life”.

AMONG THE OBJECTS ALSO THE IRON RINGS FROM THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE CAGES FOR THE LAUNCHING OF THE WHITE DOVES

Among the objects, there are also the iron rings that during the Second World War were given by the State in exchange for the gold ones that were used to finance the conflict, the publications from the period of the Twenty Years on marriage and family, the bridal bouquet holders in silver and ivory, confetti holders with related silver spoons and several hundred photos of newlyweds from the second half of the nineteenth century framed like real period paintings.
The Marriage Museum has two curious cages that were used to launch white doves: one is made of wood and comes from France, while the other is made of enamelled metal and is from the middle of the last century. The icing on the cake is the collection of ancient wedding dresses, wedding hats and ring holders, as well as dozens of ancient books on marriage, including “Impediments and diriments to marriage” cited in the Betrothed by Don Abbondio. The oldest documents in the Marriage Museum collection are a marriage contract from 1450 on parchment which contains the list of the immovable and movable assets of the dowries of the contracting parties and a photograph on copper plate of a copy of the bride and groom from 1842. The exhibition It can be visited until Wednesday 26 June from Monday to Thursday from 9.30 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to 16.30 and on Friday from 9.30 to 12.30. Entrance is free.