One hundred years after the death of Gaetano Bonoris (1861-1923) the Municipality of Montichiari, the Count Gaetano Bonoris Foundation, the State Archives of Brescia and the Ugo Da Como Foundation of Lonato del Garda - are promoting two exhibition events aimed at rediscovering his 'fascinating personal history as well as the planning events of the Montichiari castle built between 1890 and 1900 through over fifty exhibited works.

Philanthropist, benefactor, banker of proverbial wealth, Gaetano Bonoris has too often been judged a controversial personality, in the past accused of misanthropy and excessive avarice. An oblique narration unfortunately favored by the destruction by the will of Bonoris himself of all his private correspondence and finally negatively conditioned by the long legal case, brought after his death, to invalidate his will which named his universal heir the Congrega della Carità Apostolica of Brescia and the foundation that bears his name today for the benefit of sick and abandoned children.

The careful archival research that preceded these two exhibitions finally dispelled many shadows, allowing for a more correct and objective biographical reading of the figure of Bonoris through the discovery of unpublished documents. The large archival fund which testifies to the activity of the Bonoris Administration, deposited in the Brescia State Archives, also allows you to closely follow the life of an enterprising millionaire of the early twentieth century - which was Count Gaetano - with an extraordinary wealth of anecdotes and materials worthy of being valued.

The exhibition at the State Archives - curated by Debora Piroli and Paolo Boifava - thus evoking in its title a popular saying still known in the provinces of Brescia and Mantua, will thus tell the public the paper content of the famous "Bonoris stock exchange", in a fascinating daily life of current affairs, travel, management of large estates, hunting trips, suppliers of luxury goods from Italy and Europe.