DOMPÉ A L'AQUILA. DALL'ITALIA AL MONDO

Dompé in L'Aquila. From Italy to the World

An exhibition by Fondazione Dompé
26 September – 2 October 2026
Palazzo dell'Emiciclo, L'Aquila

Note on historical advertising materials

The Artrosil, Vi-Lactis and Do-bil products shown in the advertisements, formerly marketed by Dompé farmaceutici S.p.A., are no longer available on the market. The Bioritmon and Cardioritmon products shown in the advertisements do not correspond to those currently marketed by Dompé farmaceutici S.p.A. The Guaiacalcium product shown in the advertisements, formerly marketed by Dompé farmaceutici S.p.A., is no longer available on the market. The Guaiacalcium trademark is currently registered to and owned by Laboratorio Farmaceutico S.I.T. – Specialità Igienico-Terapeutiche S.r.l.

DOMPÉ CENTRAL PHARMACY, 1890s

Promotional postcard featuring a detailed illustration of the Dompé Central Pharmacy at 5 Piazza della Scala, Milan.

DOMPÉ CENTRAL PHARMACY, 1890s

A selection of labels from products sold at the Dompé Pharmacy in Piazza della Scala.

ONORATO DOMPÉ’S IDENTITY CARD, 1927

Identity card issued to Dr. Onorato Dompé by the Municipality of Milan on 19 March 1927, bearing his handwritten signature. His occupation is listed as “chemist-pharmacist.”

ILLUSTRATED GENERAL CATALOGUE, 1913

Opening pages of the Illustrated General Catalogue of the Dompé-Adami Prize-Winning Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works in Milan. Intended for pharmacists, the catalogue features medicinal products, machinery and laboratory equipment, reflecting the considerable breadth of the company’s product range.

ADVERTISEMENT FOR CREOSOTINA, C. 1910

Illustrated cover of a promotional folder produced by the Dompé-Adami Chemical Works. The Art Nouveau-style image advertises Creosotina, a balsamic and antiseptic preparation for respiratory ailments, manufactured by Dr Onorato Dompé since 1890.

“PREMIATO STABILIMENTO CHIMICO FARMACEUTICO DOMPÉ ADAMI – MILANO,” 1910s

Reverse of a document folder. Alongside a list of the products manufactured by the “Factory,” a series of photographs shows the interiors of the Dompé English Pharmacy at 31 Via Carlo Alberto and the production facilities.

ONORATO AND FRANCO DOMPÉ, 1950s

Onorato Dompé, wearing a white lab coat, with his son Franco in the laboratories of Dompé Pharmaceuticals on Via San Martino, Milan.

AMPOULE-FILLING DEPARTMENT, 1950s

Two views of the ampoule-filling department at the Dompé Pharmaceuticals plant at 12 Via San Martino, Milan. The spacious facility was equipped with state-of-the-art machinery for the production of medicinal preparations in ampoules.

BIORITMON INSTALLATION AT THE MILAN TRADE FAIR, 1960

Installation at the Dompé Pharmaceuticals stand at the Milan Trade Fair promoting Bioritmon, a medicinal product marketed at the time with the slogan: “The cutting-edge restorative with vitamins in a safe.”

THE HISTORIC MILAN HEADQUARTERS DAMAGED BY BOMBING, 31 MARCH 1944

The building at the intersection of Via San Martino and Via Melegnano, damaged by a fire that “raged with great intensity for many hours,” according to a wartime damage assessment. The Via San Martino premises still house the company’s offices today.

THE VIA SAN MARTINO HEADQUARTERS, 1950s

Exterior view of the Dompé Pharmaceuticals headquarters on Via San Martino, Milan. Following the wartime damage, Franco Dompé, Onorato’s son, oversaw the reconstruction of the plant and moved the production laboratory there. The new complex—a 15,000-square-metre white Rationalist building designed by architect Clerici and engineer Perolini—was inaugurated on 4 January 1951 in the presence of Ildefonso Schuster, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan.

FRANCO GRIGNANI FOR BELLEZZA D'ITALIA, 1951–1953

Four covers for the magazine published by Dompé Pharmaceuticals, for which Franco Grignani served as art director from 1951 to 1961

A photograph of ice hockey, reworked with optical overlays, is transformed into pure abstract movement and kinetic energy (1953, no. 6).

The dotted pattern of the phototypesetting creates an illusion of depth and vibration, an example of “photo-graphics” that places Grignani among the precursors of Op Art (1951, no. 7).

Abstract geometries and vivid colors make up the cover of this publication (1951, no. 4).

An elegant interior layout opens the number dedicated to “modern life” (1953, no. 4).

FRANCO GRIGNANI, CAMPAIGNS FOR GUAIACALCIUM, 1949–1954

Guaiacalcium, a historic Dompé medicine for respiratory ailments, was the focus of the campaigns created by Franco Grignani.

The lemon peeking out of the steaming cup evokes a pleasant experience, reinforcing the idea of a remedy that is both effective and enjoyable (1949, no. 12).

A red traffic light blanketed in snow symbolizes the fight against seasonal ailments (1949, no. 9).

A pattern of vivid vertical stripes overlays a photograph of a woman holding an umbrella (1954, no. 5).

Chromatic overlays and geometric shapes outline the stylized silhouette of a bass tuba, visually conveying the concept of “…a fuller breath” (1952, no. 1).

FRANCO GRIGNANI, ADVERTISEMENTS, 1951–1952

The effectiveness of medicines translated into visual metaphors.

The use of diagonal bands of color and the stroboscopic repetition of the athlete’s figure evoke a return to freedom of movement with Artrosil B1 (1951, no. 5).

A classically rendered hand supports an ethereal structure of spheres, a metaphor for balance restored with Vi-factis (1951, no. 6).

The recurring theme of the dancer becomes a metaphor for regained well-being and physiological balance in Vi-factis (1951, no. 3).

The industrial metaphor of the mechanical hook that lifts and supports the heart visually conveys the effectiveness of the cardiotonic Cardioritmon (1952, Christmas special issue).

BELLEZZA D’ITALIA, CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ISSUE, 1949

“Images of Abruzzo,” an article devoted to L’Aquila and Abruzzo by writer and critic Giovanni Titta Rosa.

THE “DOMPÉ VAN” IN CORTINA, 1956

One of the vehicles bearing the Dompé logo and the five Olympic rings, used as part of the medical supply service organized by the company during the Cortina d’Ampezzo Games of 1956. The fleet went on to become a permanent support service for the sporting community.

FRANCO DOMPÉ AT THE OSLO OLYMPICS, 1952

Franco Dompé (left) competed as part of the Italian two-man bobsleigh team alongside Cortina-born athlete Lino Zanettin at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games in Oslo. His bobsleigh was displayed at the Milan Trade Fair stand in 1960 to promote Do-bil, with the slogan: “To race a bobsleigh, you need a healthy liver.”

MEDICAL SUPPLY SERVICE AT THE CORTINA OLYMPICS, 1956

Dompé Pharmaceuticals promotional postcard for the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina. The graphic design features the silhouette of the Dolomites, the Olympic rings and the vans bearing the company logo.

BOBSLEIGH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, 1950

Poster by Franco Rondinelli for the Bobsleigh World Championships held in Cortina d’Ampezzo from 28 January to 5 February 1950, in which Franco Dompé also competed. Against a snow-covered Dolomite landscape, a rainbow-colored ribbon is streaked by a racing bobsleigh.

SERGIO DOMPÉ WITH RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI

Sergio Dompé with Rita Levi-Montalcini, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for her discovery of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). Her discovery of the molecule marked the beginning of a research journey that would lead Dompé to develop and manufacture, at its L’Aquila site, the world’s first drug based on recombinant human NGF.

INAUGURATION OF THE DOMPÉ SITE IN L’AQUILA, 21 JUNE 1993

Sergio Dompé inside the new facility on the day of its inauguration.

INAUGURATION OF THE DOMPÉ SITE IN L’AQUILA, 21 JUNE 1993

Franco Dompé with his son Sergio in the site’s conference room, in a symbolic passing of the baton from one generation to the next.

INAUGURATION OF THE DOMPÉ SITE IN L’AQUILA, 21 JUNE 1993

Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, accompanied by Minister of Health Maria Pia Garavaglia, visits the production areas of the new L’Aquila facility.

INAUGURATION OF THE DOMPÉ SITE IN L’AQUILA, 21 JUNE 1993

The image captures a moment of the official greetings: among the guests of honor is Professor Rita Levi-Montalcini, pictured at the center holding a bouquet of flowers.

THE L’AQUILA PRODUCTION SITE, 1993

View of the front façade of the facility in the year it was inaugurated.

THE L’AQUILA PRODUCTION SITE, 1993

A detail of a plant used to produce process fluids.

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTS, L'AQUILA, 1990s

An operator working on the syrup production line.

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTS, L'AQUILA, 1990s

The Aeromatic fluid-bed granulator, at the time one of the largest of its kind installed in Europe.

DOMPÉ SITE RESEARCHERS AND TECHNICIANS, L’AQUILA, 1993

Researchers from the research center along the facility’s covered walkway.

DOMPÉ SITE RESEARCHERS AND TECHNICIANS, L’AQUILA, 1993

Production technicians wearing sterile garments inside the production areas.

PACKAGING LINE IN L'AQUILA, 1990s

An operator working on the sachet packaging line for granulated products in bags.

THE L’AQUILA PRODUCTION SITE, 2024

The front façade of the facility following the expansion of the production site and warehouse.

30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FACILITY, L’AQUILA, JUNE 2023
The L’Aquila site team gathered to mark the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of the Campo di Pile facility. Today, the L’Aquila site employs more than 300 people, 46% of whom hold a university degree or PhD.

BIOTECH PRODUCTION LINES IN L’AQUILA, 2021

Detail of the packaging line for Dompé’s first biotechnology-based medicine, indicated for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis, a rare eye disease.

BIOTECH PRODUCTION LINES IN L’AQUILA, 2021

The biotechnological fermentation line for the production of rhNGF, the recombinant human Nerve Growth Factor that forms its active ingredient: the entire production cycle for the medicine takes place at the L’Aquila site.

EXSCALATE PLATFORM RESEARCHERS, 2025

Researchers working on Exscalate, Dompé’s supercomputing platform for drug discovery, use virtual-reality headsets to explore a three-dimensional model of rhNGF.

SERGIO DOMPÉ WITH DOMPÉ FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS, 2026

Sergio Dompé with scholarship recipients supported by the Dompé Foundation at the University of Pavia, one of the leading universities participating in the Foundation’s scholarship program.

DOMPÉ FOUNDATION: A GLOBAL NETWORK

Established in 2020 at the initiative of Sergio Dompé, the Foundation has two main goals: to break down socioeconomic barriers to higher education through an international scholarship programme, and to promote the development of the professions of the future in STEM fields, with a particular focus on the life sciences.