14 February 2018

The Valentine Padlock

For Valentine’s Day the Museo della Chiave Bianchi 1770 places a spotlight on a very special object: a heart-shaped padlock, which is the symbol of the most romantic day of the year. The secrets it protected are not known, nor is its owner, but it is certainly of French origins. This small security tool is a reminder of a lover’s tradition of securing a padlock to the bridge of the city the lovers are visiting on that day: this is a very ancient practice that does not concern only the European art cities, but also the thousand-year-old cities of the Far East, and has become a modern day craze. A simple gesture, placing a padlock on a bridge railing, becomes extremely romantic when the lovers throw the key in the water, as a promise of eternal love.