About
A museum dedicated to Bergamo's puppetry tradition.
Benedetto Ravasio (1915-1990) was arguably the most famous and best puppet-master of the province of Bergamo. He and his wife, Giuseppina Cazzaniga, committed themselves to the art of puppeteering in the late 1940s, which occupied them until his death. In 1993, the Benedetto Ravasio Foundation was set up, and Museo del Burattino was eventually opened in 2019. Benedetto Ravasio was instrumental in breathing life into Ol Giopì, a mask traditional to Bergamo. The earliest evidence of Ol Giopì is a 14th-century painting recently discovered in a local church. His main characteristic is three goiters, which he flaunts as if they were jewels. Ol Giopì is cunning and rough around the edges, but he is fundamentally good-hearted. Crafty and rough around the edges himself, he always carries a stick that he often uses to beat reason into people for their own good.
