ANNIVERSARIES PLAY AN important part in structuring the art-historical calendar. Their observance can also serve as a way to organise the past and draw it closer, as in the programme of First World War commemorations […] In 2017 the War will recede somewhat to make way for two colossal anniversaries: the centenary of the Russian Revolution and the quincentenary of Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses.

THE FIVE HUNDREDTH anniversary of the publication of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso has been celebrated in Ferrara with a three-months-long lunar eclipse. Halfway through the exhibition Orlando Furioso 500 anni. Cosa vedeva Ariosto quando chiudeva gli occhi at the Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara (to 8th January), the visitor encounters a mysteriously lit moon in one of the palace’s rooms. The globe is in fact a bronze sphere dating from the first century AD that used to crown the Vatican obelisk and was erroneously said to have contained the ashes of Julius Caesar (cat. no.66). […] This theatrical solution is one of many inspired concepts in this staggering exhibition, curated by Guido Beltramini and Adolfo Tura.