AIS supports the exhibition “Il Giardino dei Semplici”by Elena Caterina Doria in Mantua

Nature, art and memory in dialogue at the historic Casa di Rigoletto

The Cultural Route of the Council of Europe “Aromas Itinerarium Salutis” has officially granted its patronage to the exhibition “Il Giardino dei Semplici” by artist Elena Caterina Doria, held at the Casa di Rigoletto in Mantua from 30 May to 22 June 2025. The opening event is scheduled for Friday, 30 May at 5:30 PM.

Curated by Paola Artoni, the exhibition is promoted by the Municipality of Mantua and organized with the support of Numm Contemporary Art and Saporiti Italia, under the patronage of the MAM – Museum of Modern Art of Gazoldo degli Ippoliti, in collaboration with the Giulio Romano Art School.

A symbolic garden between science and artistic imagination

In her personal “Giardino dei Semplici”, Milan-born and Monferrato-based artist Elena Caterina Doria revisits the historical botanical garden of the Ducal Palace in Mantua, originally designed in 1603 by Franciscan friar Zenobio Bocchi. This symbolic reference intertwines past and present, art and science, spirituality and regeneration. It perfectly echoes the values of the Aromas Itinerarium Salutis, which enhances historic pharmacies and medicinal gardens as living heritage of Europe.

A four-room exhibition itinerary

The exhibition unfolds in four thematic sections:

• Dialogues with Nature: drawings of trees, branches, and nests made from life or memory, traced in Bic pen with expressive immediacy.
• Nature in Transformation: poetic and dreamlike works where nests and roses become metaphors for femininity, transformation and rebirth.
• Locus Originis: the monumental Nidus Mundi — a heart of grass and intertwined branches — becomes a refuge for biodiversity and is linked to a reforestation project in Monferrato.
• Archetypes of Care: works such as Cunabula naturae, The Sacred Feminine and Nature Triptych, and the site-specific project Il Giardino dei Semplici, created using Petri dishes, plantable paper and illustrations of imaginary flora, propose a utopian garden designed to heal the ills of contemporary society.

Monograph presentation

As part of the exhibition programme, on Saturday, 14 June 2025 at 4:30 PM, the Giardino di Palazzo d’Arco will host the official presentation of the monograph “Elena Caterina Doria. Cosmogonia (works 2012–2025)”, edited by Paola Artoni and published by Artbook. The publication offers an in-depth look at the artist’s vision, documenting over a decade of work centered on the intersection of nature, spirituality and artistic research.