The exhibition has the dual purpose of proposing to the general public the theme of the important Dante collecting that developed in the Milan area and at the same time tracing a brief history of the first printed editions of the Comedy thanks to the privilege of being able to dispose of the exceptional collection preserved at the Castle . Sforzesco - fruit of the centuries-old commitment of the learned collectors of the Trivulzio family, of which the Civic Trivulziana Library is today the heir. The Trivulziana collection includes the entire fifteenth-century printed production of the Commedia: from the first licensed edition in Foligno on 11 April 1472 to the Venetian edition of 11 October 1497.

The texts of the exhibition have been carefully studied, in content and language, to tell the general public aspects relating to the manuscript and printed tradition of Dante's Comedy that are usually the exclusive prerogative of scholars. In the exhibition itinerary, attention is drawn to some material details of the specimens on display and, at the same time, to the choices made for the individual editions by the typographers-publishers in terms of layout and textual model, in a story that intends to evoke for rapid outlines the wealth of typographic practice and the publishing market in Italy in the second half of the fifteenth century, already a few years after the invention of movable type printing.

The didactic apparatuses, in Italian and English, also include an explanation of the recurring specialist terms and are accompanied by some food for thought aimed at younger visitors, so that the theme of the ancient printing of Dante's Comedy also becomes an opportunity for them to learn about the tradition. and education in appreciation of the originals.

The physical exhibition in the Treasury room is complemented by the online publication of a guide and a rich archive of images relating to the editions of the Commedia produced in the first century of printing.