Axis mundi at the Museo Lapidario Maffeiano. Raffaello Galiotto’s sculptures between historical memory and contemporaneity

From September 23 to October 12, 2025, the Museo Lapidario Maffeiano hosts Axis mundi, a solo exhibition by Raffaello Galiotto, curated by the art philosopher Alfonso Cariolato. Part of the collateral events program of ArtVerona and organized in collaboration with Marmomac, the exhibition transforms the courtyard of the Lapidario into an open-air stage, where thirteen marble works engage in dialogue with the site’s millennia-old history.

Galiotto, a designer and artist who has long explored the relationship between art and technology, presents sculptures with light, thin surfaces that enhance unexpected transparencies and reflections. The display takes advantage of the symmetry of the 18th-century courtyard, arranging the works within the four grassy areas: a path that invites visitors to discover new visual and conceptual balances between past and contemporaneity.

Among the works on show — from the biomorphic Proto and Axialis to Opuntia, Pristis and Calice — emerges Galiotto’s skill in shaping stone with technological tools that push the material to its limits, making it almost diaphanous. As Cariolato notes, the artist complicates and bends the courtyard’s strict geometry, opening up new imaginative correspondences.

The exhibition confirms Verona’s role as the capital of natural stone, strengthened by the synergy between Marmomac and ArtVerona. A project that not only celebrates the bond between art and territory, but also brings contemporary sculpture to the very heart of the city, offering a free and accessible cultural experience.

Axis mundi
Works by Raffaello Galiotto
Curated by Alfonso Cariolato
Museo Lapidario Maffeiano, Piazza Bra 28 – Verona
September 23 – October 12, 2025
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 10.00 am – 6.00 pm, closed on Mondays
Free admission