At the Origins of Cristina. The bronze statue of Cristina Trivulzio di Belgioioso and other works by Giuseppe Bergomi.

One year after the inauguration of the monument dedicated to Cristina Trivulzio di Belgioioso, created by sculptor Giuseppe Bergomi, on Wednesday 5 October Galleria Rubin will inaugurate the exhibition At the Origins of Cristina. The exhibition aims to recapitulate the creative steps that led the Brescian artist to the conception of the Milanese monument. On display will be small sculptures, bronzes and terracottas, depicting human figures, mainly female, seated or crouched. female, seated or crouched on a cube-shaped armchair. This seat is the same that we find again, adapted and with new intentions, in the statue dedicated to Cristina Trivulzio, Milan's first monument dedicated to a female historical figure.

Here, the element of the cube functions both realistically, as a support for the seated figure in an attempt to rise, and in an abstract key, as a metaphorical surface linked to rationality, on which to engrave those words that in 1866 Cristina addressed to the women of the future. The combination of figure and supporting volumes (often elements of contemporary furniture) is frequent in the artist's production. Bergomi, in fact, portrays her subjects from life and the pose times are long, sometimes exhausting. The centrepiece of the exhibition in the Rubin Gallery is the bronze of Cristina.

The crowning achievement of the collaboration, which has united for fifteen months of passionate work Fondazione Brivio Sforza, Le Dimore del Quartetto and Galleria Rubin, is therefore represented by this bronze statuette that invites us to reflect on how much more can and must be done to achieve the gender equality necessary for the development of a civilised society. The presence of the monument dedicated to Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso in the city and its reproduction in homes, besides being a fitting tribute to the Milanese heroine, induces reflection and stimulates transformation towards a more aware society that recognises the value of people regardless of gender.

"We have retraced an ancient tradition that envisages, for the private spaces of a house or a studio, the placement of small-scale reproductions of monumental works." - says Paolo Galli, director of Galleria Rubin - "Their presence is a declaration of recognition and sharing in the world and the reasons that give rise to those works".