From 15 September to 7 January 2024 the Estensi Galleries present the exhibition Word of Password? Este artists: the letters, the works , an exhibition that will exhibit for the first time, alongside some works from the Estensi Galleries, precious documents that tell their genesis, their creator or the relationship with the ducal clients. Curated by Simone Sirocchi with the coordination of Martina Bagnoli and Lorenza Iannacci , the exhibition is created in collaboration with the Modena State Archives.

A work of art is always born from words : often they are those of the client who orders its creation, other times those jotted down hastily by the artist so as not to miss an intuition, or those communicated in a more or less inspired way in correspondence, to make your creative intention known to a recipient with whom you can interact. These are the "words" of the documents on display , papers coming from a fund of the State Archive of Modena called "Archive by subject, Fine Arts", and extrapolated in the nineteenth century from other sections of the Estense Secret Archive and to then be sorted by keywords , whether the artist's profession or his name.

Together with letters from painters and sculptors who made the Estense collection famous - including Guercino and Gian Lorenzo Bernini - correspondence will be presented which has allowed historiography to reconstruct the complex and fascinating itinerary of ducal patronage. The visitor will be accompanied in the discovery of these "artist's words" by short audio guides : this unprecedented perspective will give voice to the masterpieces of the Dukes of Este, thus making them even more eloquent.