From the end of the 18th century forward and with Romanticism, a broad audience of novel readers and frequenters of theatres and art exhibitions began to form.

The historical novel, the genre of history painting and melodrama (revolutionised thanks to Gioacchino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi) fuelled the passion for historical events, introducing the heroes of a new mythology.

Historians, men of letters, poets, painters, sculptors, and set and costume designers tried to evoke the past as faithfully as possible in the reconstruction of settings, in the description of physiognomies, attitudes and clothing, all the while making those places, those events, those characters, those feelings, contemporary.

Through the masterpieces of Francesco Hayez, Michelangelo Grigoletti, Pompeo Molmenti, Francesco Coghetti, Domenico Induno and Alexandre Cabanel, the Accademia Carrara weaves a dialogue between painting, literature and music, staging the extraordinary story of a fascinating historical period, also due to an exceptional museum installation.