The ‘Rossetti Valentini’ School of Fine Arts turned 145 years old in 2023.

Founded by the painter Giovanni Maria Rossetti Valentini with the aim of teaching a profession, it became the hub of artistic and intellectual activities that, with the master Enrico Cavalli, made it a unique institution in the Alps.

To this day, the Rossetti Valentini School is the only active School of Fine Arts in the Alps. Thanks to the School, the Vigezzo Valley is known as ‘the valley of the painters’.

Many of the Vigezzo painters have gained a solid reputation beyond the local borders (Carlo Fornara, G.B. Ciolina, Enrico Cavalli, L. Peretti Junior).

Today the School of Fine Arts, enlarged and completely renovated in 2021, acts as a “cultural workshop” (events, exhibitions, training courses, workshops and art laboratories, including contemporary ones; residencies for young Italian and foreign artists; research activities; publications…) thanks to the commitment of the Rossetti Valentini Foundation and the support of many organisations, institutions and enthusiasts, first and foremost the Municipality of Santa Maria Maggiore.