Italian cabinet of curiosities proves top draw
Rich and famous beat a path to invitation-only gallery of exotica that gives new twist to age-old idea
IT MUST be the only gallery in the world where Wonder Woman’s golden lasso shares space with a wooden fork used by New Guinea cannibals to spear flesh from their slaughtered enemies.
Italy is packed with treasure troves of culture, but none is as eclectic as the Theatrum Mundi, or Theatre of the World, which proclaims itself “the 21st century cabinet of curiosities”.
Hidden away in a quiet street in the Tuscan town of Arezzo, it is a private, invitation-only gallery that caters to billionaire tycoons, Asian property developers and Hollywood celebrities.
The exquisitely lit objects inside the gallery include dinosaur skeletons, meteorites from Mars, Soviet-era spacesuits and a cornucopia of Hollywood memorabilia and movie props.
There is a pair of black leather shoes worn and signed by Michael Jackson, the lethal-looking claws wielded by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in X-Men: The Last Stand, a baseball cap worn by Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump and a bar of Willy Wonka’s Nutty Crunch Surprise chocolate.
All the objects come with a certificate of authenticity, says Luca Cableri, the founder and owner of the gallery. He concedes that his is a niche market, but says business is booming, particularly in the sale of dinosaur skeletons.
“In the past few years the market has exploded. Two years ago at Christie’s a T-Rex skeleton sold for $30million (£23 million) . That changed everything.”
He has an allosaurus skeleton up for sale, with an asking price of €1.5million (£1.26million). “The carnivores are the most sought after. There’s not much interest in the vegetarian dinosaurs.”
A key part of the gallery’s philosophy is to team objects together in unusual juxtapositions.
“Clients like to put a dinosaur skeleton next to a Roman bust, for instance. Or they might put a light sabre next to a classical painting,” said Mr Cableri, 49. “It’s like taking a picture of a zebra on top of Everest. It’s a talking point.”
He founded the gallery in 2014, inspired by the “cabinets of wonder” that were in vogue from the 16th to 18th centuries – galleries of exotica, from stuffed animals to tribal art, that Europeans brought back from newly discovered lands in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Clients typically fly to the nearest airport at Florence and take a helicopter to Arezz. “We get millionaires, billionaires, actors, VIPs.
“We’ll get a phone call from some famous person’s assistant and to start with we don’t know where it’s a joke or not.”
Hollywood props are also popular. Mr Cableri’s clients often feel a genuine connection to the objects they set their sights on, particularly props from films that enchanted them as children.
“I have had customers see objects from a film they love and they go down on their knees – they cry, they thank me for showing them the items.
“It’s as if these are the sacred objects of our age,” he said.