Attilio Mussino (Turin, January 25, 1878 – Vernante, July 16, 1954) was an Italian illustrator, cartoonist and painter who passed into the history of illustration as a draftsman of the first colour edition of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio entitled “The Adventures of Pinocchio History of a puppet “and published in the 1911 edition of R. Bemporad and son. Mussino worked there for about three years (from 1908 to 1911); then presented his work at the 1911 Turin International Exposition, obtaining, for his illustrated panels, the honorary diploma and the gold medal. The work succeeded in bringing Carlo Collodi’s puppet into the great European illustration of the twentieth century; his edition of “The Adventures of Pinocchio” was the most reprinted and sold in absolute and, in many ways, probably, will remain unmatched.
After some personal misfortunes Mussino decided to spend the last years of his life in Vernante opening an artist studio in the village. Vernante the town of Pinocchio and has brought about the inauguration of this interesting museum. The museum is organized in three thematic sections that trace the life of the illustrator narrating the different facets of the artist. A section proposes a series of oil paintings realized by Mussino in his life in Vernante that portray characters from the illustrator’s family and inhabitants of Vernante demonstrating the skill of the master possessed technique. A series of autographed graphic studies allows us to understand the artist’s modus operandi, bringing to light anatomical details, sketches and drawings of illustrious personalities. Alongside these autographed works, the museum exhibits an important collection of books for children published by the main Italian publishing houses and illustrated by Mussino during his career.