Serafino Corbetta (1912–1976) served as director and chief physician of the hospital in Chiavenna for 34 years, from 1942 until his death in 1976. He had wide-ranging interests and was a passionate collector. He had been interested in art since his student days in Pavia, and his art collection in Chiavenna was diverse and of high quality.

In the 1950s, he became the physician of Annetta Giacometti, the mother of Alberto Giacometti. This is how he met Alberto Giacometti, with whom he maintained a friendship until the latter’s death in 1966. Serafino Corbetta also maintained a friendship with Varlin (Willy Guggenheim), who had been living in Bregaglia since 1963. Corbetta was portrayed on several occasions by both artists.

In 2025, Serafino Corbetta’s three daughters – Natalia Corbetta, Anna Maria Pucci Corbetta and Luisa Corbetta – donated a collection of letters and photographs from their father’s legacy to the Museo Ciäsa Granda e Atelier Giacometti. The exhibition «Corbetta, Giacometti, Varlin» presents part of this donation for the first time. The exhibition is complemented by two loans: one portrait of Serafino Corbetta by Alberto Giacometti and one by Varlin.