As part of the initiatives related to the major exhibition "Giovanni Fattori. A revolution in painting", the exhibition "Secret signs. Fattori's painting in infrared" will open on Thursday, October 30th at 6:00 pm at the Granai di Villa Mimbelli (via San Jacopo in Acquaviva 67).

Opening is free, then admission is included in the ticket for the main exhibition at Villa Mimbelli. The exhibition will be open until January 11, 2026.

This is a section dedicated to the results of recent diagnostic investigations conducted on about twenty paintings by Giovanni Fattori, revealing hidden and unpublished aspects. 

The research, promoted and carried out by the University of Pisa, Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, and by CNR-INO – National Institute of Optics, was conducted under the coordination of Prof. Mattia Patti of the University of Pisa and Dr. Marco Raffaelli, CNR, by the team formed by researchers Alice Dal Fovo, Daniela Porcu, Enrico Pampaloni, Marco Raffaelli, and Raffaella Fontana. Many students from the Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge of the University of Pisa also actively participated in the research campaign.

The diagnostics have revealed the so-called underdrawing, the preparatory drawing, usually in pencil, that the artist traced before starting to paint. Through the study of these traces, numerous compositional corrections made during the work process and an interesting case of reuse of the support have emerged.