Junior is away visiting The Guggenheim in Bilbao. I feel a twinge of longing because I’d like to be there, too, but lucky for me I’ve got some visual art right on my doorstep here in Vicenza.

In fact today I’m taking you inside the Basilica Palladiana to show you some of my favourites from the artworks from the sculptures and paintings on display.

It’s free to get in and the exhibition is on until 9th November 2025 so you can pop in as many times as you feel the need. You’ll find a soothing and quiet space. The backdrop for the artworks are the cream or brick walls of the ground floor of the Basilica. Most of the artworks are in earthy, natural tones. There is plenty of space between each one so you can get up close and observe, especially in the case of the pieces of sculpture, which you can look at from different angles.

D’Agostini is a local artist who in the words of the organisers has dedicated his life to ‘art, a love for nature and to the beauty which surrounds each one of us’.

The exhibition promises to reveal the beauty of small details as well as the drama of large pieces of work.

This article is my edit of the artworks which spoke to me on the day of my visit. It’s not a guidebook and I hope that if you go, you’ll find your own personal experience of the exhibition.

Guiding Figures

So this group of sculptures and paintings come together under the name Guiding Figures. This collection, I’ll admit, made me feel some sadness and a little nostalgia. There are the pictures on the wall showing the passing of time. The young man showered with colourful leaves in one image becomes a man in the autumn of life in the next. The day of my visit was the first cool and rainy day of the end of August and there was probably a feeling of summertime sadness in the air which I brought with me.

The Navigators, King and Queen, The Artist and The Traveller

Nature

The next theme is Nature and in particular, artworks of the female figure representing some aspect of nature.

Don’t you think this sculpture is just asking you to reach out and touch it? it looks like it’s been carved from pure milk chocolate.

But really it was made with pierre de Caen, a Jurassic limestone from Normandy, France (the same one used to build the Tower of London FYI) and local Brenta stone.

The end result is this lifelike woman with hair and skin all smooth as If she’s just emerged from the water.

Theatre Space and Human Adventure

Journey Towards the Unknown

Infinity

Cosmic Figures

Whoever set up this room must be very pleased with themselves. The old cream-coloured stone and the brickwork are the best backdrop for these exhibits with touches of gold, bronze and turquoise.

The Seven Planets

My absolute favourites of the planet sculptures on display are Venus and Mercury. They are the ones which struck me the most.

I also like to think that they are relevant to me because as I’m a Taurus, my ruling planet is Venus, the planet which rules love, harmony and beauty. And you know by now that I like to look at beautiful things.

And Mercury is all about communication, which has been the key aspect of most of my working life.

Have I tempted you to visit, too? Will you find something which speaks to you that I’ve overlooked?