From November 21st to May 3rd, the historic Palazzo delle Papesse, one of the most impressive buildings in Siena’s humanist past, will host a major retrospective dedicated to Armando Testa (1917-1992), a Piedmontese creative genius. Curated by Valentino Catricalà and Gemma De Angelis Testa, the exhibition is produced by Opera Laboratori in collaboration with Galleria Continua and TestaperTesta. The exhibition will offer a unique perspective on Armando Testa, known for revolutionizing the language of advertising, establishing him as a crucial figure in the cultural landscape of the time. Alongside the unforgettable posters and characters created between the 1950s and 1960s—from the Antonetto digestive to the Punt e Mes “point and a half,” from Caballero and Carmencita to the Papalla planet, and even Pippo the Blue Hippopotamus—the exhibition will also showcase Testa as a painter, experimenter with cinematic techniques, and artist. The exhibition will show how his advertising creations, iconic images that have now become part of the collective memory, have been and continue to be a source of inspiration for generations of artists and creatives.

The retrospective thus outlines the profile of a multifaceted and visionary artist whose research spanned diverse fields—from advertising to painting, photography, television, and sculpture—while maintaining an extraordinary expressive power. A volume will be published to accompany the exhibition, bringing together, for the first time, texts by the most authoritative scholars who have written on Testa—from Gillo Dorfles to Germano Celant—along with testimonials from contemporary artists and valuable historical documents.