Onorio Bravi
22 come gli arcani maggiori
from 11 to 25 July 2026
The Exhibition
In the 2000s, Onorio Bravi , in conversation with architect Marisa Zattini and Professor Andrea Vitali, conceived a project on tarot cards, to be created using multiple techniques (woodcut, etching, painting, and graffiti). He began his first works around 2010, completing the series in 2015. The work was collected in a catalog, "Tarots and Tarots, Fantastic Allegories," for which Marisa Zattini oversaw the critical, editorial, and publishing aspects, while Andrea Vitali explored the symbolism and iconography.
For the exhibition "22 Come Gli Arcani Maggiori," the series on paintings, perhaps the most iconic, was re-presented, featuring a dreamlike, fantastical, and imaginative use of color. A tarot deck based on this series in particular was also published.
The number 22 is the common thread running through the exhibition: 22 is in the title "22 like the Major Arcana," 22 are the questions in the interview with artist Onorio Bravi, and 22 is also in the name and address of the gallery, Spazio espositivo Pallavicini 22 Art Gallery in Ravenna at Viale Giorgio Pallavicini at number 22.
The Works
The Artist
Onorio Bravi was born in Portico di Romagna (FC) on July 2, 1955. He currently lives and works in San Zaccaria (Ravenna). He began his artistic career in the late 1970s. He later graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ravenna with a degree in Painting.
His interests from the outset have encompassed numerous fields: painting, sculpture, set design, mosaics, and engraving, the latter of which he practices assiduously. He has produced over 250 plates. In the 1990s, he taught engraving and painting courses for the Municipality of Ravenna. His graphic works are preserved in the Repertory of Italian Engravers at the "Le Cappuccine" Antique and Modern Prints Collection in Bagnacavallo (Ravenna, Italy) and at the National Library of Madrid, Ministry of Education and Culture, Goya Hall.
The period spent in Algeria in the first half of the 1980s was particularly significant for his development, due to the traces of ethnic influence and the influences of the Mediterranean basin evident in his work. He has exhibited, by invitation, in numerous solo and group exhibitions. His works are held in public and private collections in Italy and abroad.
