Pigafetta and its story of the first circumnavigation of the world

Pigafetta and the first circumnavigation of the world. ‘Such a voyage will not happen again’ (Pigafetta e la prima navigazione attorno al mondo. ‘Non si farà mai più tal viaggio’) is the exhibition at the Gallerie d’Italia – Vicenza featuring Antonio Pigafetta, the Vicentine navigator and writer who chronicled the first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522) led by Ferdinand Magellan.

The exhibition, curated by Valeria Cafà and Andrea Canova, is being staged on the occasion of the 500^th anniversary celebrations of the enterprise: it features the manuscript of the Report of the first voyage around the world (Relazione del primo viaggio attorno al mondo), preserved in Milan’s Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana and regarded as the oldest testimony of the original version drawn up by Antonio Pigafetta.

The exhibition also includes, among others, the priceless nautical chart of the Indies and the Moluccas by Nuño Garcia de Toreno (1522) from the Royal Museums of Turin, examples of 15^th and 16^th century cartography, antique printed volumes and unique objects, such as a cloak made of guanaco hide, an animal unknown to Europeans: evidence that makes it possible to reconstruct the knowledge of the world as it was before, during and after the voyage, documenting the extraordinary wealth of information delivered by Pigafetta’s Report.

As part of the exhibition, a broad range of educational activity is planned aimed at schools and families to further investigate the figure of Antonio Pigafetta; special teaching aids are available to make the exhibition tour accessible to people with visual impairment.

The Vicenza museum, together with those in Milan, Naples and Turin, is part of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Gallerie d’Italia museum project.

Open to the public from 6 September 2022 to 8 January 2023.
For information on opening times and admission, visit the Gallerie d’Italia website.

Antonio Pigafetta Relazione del primo viaggio attorno al mondo
Dettaglio con barca e bilanciere (Isole deli Ladroni), prima metà del secolo XVI
Milano, Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana © Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana/Mondadori Portfolio