The print reproduces a painting of the same subject made by the artist in 1630-1631. The scene shows the moment described in the Gospel when Jesus loudly called to Lazarus causing the dead man, still in swathing bands to emerge from his grave. Jesus is shown from behind with his arm raised so that one cannot see his expression. Instead the artist shows the faces and gestures of Mary and Martha, the sisters, amazed at the miracle. The skilled use of chiaroscuro accentuates the drama of the scene. Rembrandt, etching a complex web of lines with greater or lesser depth, creates a wide range of greys and blacks, and places Lazarus and the people around him fully in the light, and gradually lowers the brightness to achieve a dense darkness. In the engraving the great Flemish painter creates both effective and unusual light effects and depth.

The print derives from a painting by Rubens housed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, but some variations between the painting and the engraving do suggest the existence of a preparatory drawing by Rubens, which served as a model for the print. Eldest daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth of Valois, Isabella became governor of the Netherlands in 1621, after the death of her husband Archduke Albert of Austria. Portrayed in sumptuous robes, Isabella wears a lace ruff of considerable size and a striking hairstyle. Painted in three quarter view, looking directly at the viewer, the subject stands out from a velvet background, whose iridescent reflections are obtained by Müller with a skilled engraved hatching technique of which he was a master.

Considered a masterpiece of engraving, the work by Giorgio Morandi, dated 1928, resumes in counterpart and with some variations, two paintings executed by the artist in 1927. Of this still life, eight states (versions with modifications) are known to exist all of which are part of the Bertarelli collection. In this work, the artist takes the genre of the still life, for centuries considered a lower and more humble form than sacred or historic art, to a sublime level. The prestigious Morandi etching holdings, a significant part of the Lamberto Vitali collection (1896-1992) entered the Bertarelli Collections as a legacy in 1995.

In this splendid work the great artist describes a

Antonio Lafrery, Pictorial map of Milan, etching, 1573 Although bearing the date 1573, the map, if analysed in relation to the progress of the city's fortifications and the Castle, reflects the topography of Milan in roughly 1560. This is the first engraving to represent the entire city. Unlike urban maps of the 16th century, Lafrery’s has the east to the bottom right corner of the map, so that the Castle is at the top, at the centre of the crown formed by the fortifications. The map is an exceptional document of Milan during Spanish rule, following the works promoted by the governor Ferrante Gonzaga. From the quadrilateral Sforza fortress, two additional fortifications built in 1552, protrude: the Tenaglia (literally, the Pincer) towards the Comasina gate and a more simple fortification towards the Vercellina gate, both demolished after 1560 for the construction of new castle defences.

The engraving, of which only two copies survive, o

This lithography is the counterpart to a painting of 1894 housed at the Ramsus Meyer Collection in Bergen. The work, also known as the Sphinx, exists in another two recorded printed versions. The print shows three stages of a women's life, on the right a young girl wearing a long light coloured dress looks with hope towards the future, at the centre a naked woman with her legs outspread represents sexual desire and passion, while on the left a wide-eyed and gaunt faced woman dressed in black symbolizes disillusionment. The man in the painting wearing a pained expression is perhaps a self-portrait of the artist himself.

The print, created by Mitelli himself, showing the title at the top in the form of a rebus, represents a cage densely inhabited by various characters, on top of which sits Fortune. Inside the cage are the many, who according to two quatrains at the bottom of the page, have lost their mind in various ways. Among them, the painter himself is portrayed twice: at the top-right shown painting and bottom right with a cage of birds tied to his belt, seemingly hitting the feet of a Turk. This is an ironic reference to the series of etchings carved by Mitelli in protest to the Turkish invasion of Hungary and Austria. At the top centre of the composition a woman is rocking herself under the word VANA. Further down, an astronomer scans the sky, some carouse, others perform various actions, one even commits a murder. A man holds up a flag that says VEN'E 'PER TUTI. The theme of madness is recurrent in popular printings, and this print was easily understandable by all and well appreciated. The Bertarelli Collection owns a large holding of Mitelli prints, approximately 470.

Plate 43 of the series of 80 prints titled Los Caprichos, The Whims, is an example of a second state; a trial proof in which the inscription is illegible. Behind the performer asleep on his work table, one can make out a threatening pack of nocturnal animals, owls, bats, a cat and a lynx. Caprichos by Goya, engraved after 1797 and published in book form in 1799, is an enigmatic work, which develops three dominant themes, a violent satire denouncing the vices of men and society, erotic motifs and witchcraft, seen as a demonic tendency and primitive insight as opposed to reason. According to some scholars Goya uses allegorical language as a means to escape censure. The choice of animals for this composition such as the cat, the symbol of lust and laziness, and the lynx, equipped with keen eyesight that enables it to follow the light through darkness, seems to confirm this view.

Architect, painter, printmaker, draftsman, a man of many interests and a great friend of Luca Beltrami, Luigi Conconi created prints that were characterized by an amalgam of printing and painting. In this work too, the artist enhances the etching with the addition of monotyping, applying the ink on the etching plate with his fingers, as testified to by the traces of fingerprints. With this pictorial process the artist dilutes black and white in shades of grey creating a sensual composition. The scene appears in a similar composition, a watercolour painted by the artist in 1896, with slight modifications. Conconi signs the work with a crescent moon in place of the first initial of his surname, as seen in the lower right corner.

The Trieste artist chose to use an allegorical composition that was both easy to read and of high visual impact to advertise the exhibition. At the helm of a locomotive, a symbol of the pace of progress, he depicted a young Mercury seen from behind and flanked by the allegorical figure of Science. The train is about to leave a dark tunnel and come out into the light of a great plain. On the horizon, small but recognizable, is the shape of the Cathedral of Milan. This poster by Metlicovitz proved to be the most successful and popular image of the Exposition.

The composition, all played out on two concrete symbols, a pair of stylised shoe soles and the drawing of a maze, resembles an abstract composition. The two yellow soles, representing someone's footsteps, contradict the symbol and the function of the labyrinth, that of intriguing and entrapping. They do not follow the tortuous path, but rather walk over it, rendering it futile. The poster has a strong visual and communicative impact, evoking the sole as an object so powerful as to overcome any constriction. Munari, a 20th century leading light in design and graphic design, expresses the product through images without actually showing the product.