Why would a small Alpine village on the French/Italian border be called the Town of Pinocchio?
Carlo Collodi, an Italian author from Florence started writing the Adventures with Pinocchio in 1881when it was a children’s magazine series. This encouraged literacy and was extremely successful but when the story ended with Pinocchio getting hanged, the audience was not happy. Collodi, accepted the protest and eventually finished the story with a happy ending. Pinocchio became a moral human being in flesh and blood.
In 1911, the most successful and award winning edition, Pinocchio was given a sort of make-over and was illustrated in color for the first time by the talented Torino-born Attilio Mussino. To complete these pictures, it took him 3 years to finish! Mussino played a huge role in the success of Pinocchio which eventually was translated in over 200 languages and made into a Disney film!
Mussino spent the last 10 years of his life in a small village called Vernante where his wife, left many of his works to the pro-loco, museum. They were given the rights to paint scenes from the story on buildings and walls throughout the town. The museum holds many original pieces of artwork by “the Uncle of Pinocchio”, Mussino and is now called “The town of Pinocchio”.
Watch my video about this small Piemontese town, Vernante.
