Aimed at returning to and recreating this historical tie, the exhibition "Maria Luigia and the Parma violets" was set up and opened on Saturday March 15 2008 and will last for as long as violets are flowering: through curiosities and writings left by the ex Empress, the exhibition will be revisiting the presence of this flower on items, furnishing and clothes. This passion for violets was shared by Napoleon's first wife, Giuseppina, and by Bonaparte himself; a preference that runs through all the XIX century and is found in the Duchess's descendents, those Counts Sanvitale of which Lombardi Museum has a consistent file of family letters rich in references to these delicate flowers. At the end of the century, this private fashion led to vast scale industrialisation when, thanks to the formula obtained from the Monks of the Church of SS. Annunciata, production of the famous perfume 'Violetta di Parma' started up.
The occasion will give visitors a chance to see the new "Maria Luigia e le violette di Parma" product line (perfumes and body) on sale exclusively in the Lombardi Museum.