Il manichino e il suo allestimento. Marcello Nizzoli da Monza al mondo

«Against a black space, prospectively deep, a flight of mannequins created by him [...] in the dry and sure style of Archipenko» (Veronesi 1966, p. 166). The "bold and modern" (Papini 1926, p.108) exhibition display for shawls by Marcello Nizzoli stood out among the rooms of Villa Reale in Monza in 1925, at the first Italian decorative arts and design exhibition. The mannequins supported the shawls of the Piatti Firm in an immersive and scenic space, up to the international ones, and more evolved also of the Parisian étalages. One has the impression of being in front of a futurist or constructivist pantomime: and it is curious that the modernist environment was thinking to set an accessory instead of luxury and traditional as the silk shawl. The essay explores the birth of the artistic mannequin in Italy, in the Deco era, an aspect that the young Nizzoli develops in relation to the exhibition space. The author attempts to contextualize Nizzoli’s mannequin and their display on the national and international scene, through the analysis of comparisons, influences and novelties in the context of the exhibition with man