The Museo della Figurina was born from the passionate collecting work of Giuseppe Panini, founder in 1961 of the famous sticker company, together with his brothers Benito, Franco Cosimo and Umberto. Through the years he collected hundreds of small colorful prints and in 1986 this extraordinary collection became a museum, hosted in the factory buildings. In 1992 Giuseppe Panini and the company decided to offer the museum to the Municipality of Modena, being the town, as capital of modern stickers and trading cards, its most suitable site.

The collection comprises, besides trade cards, stickers and trading cards, similar materials such as old prints, match boxes, poster stamps, paper money, menus, pocket calendars, albums to collect cards, published by companies or created by collectors following their taste and fantasy, and more collectibles. 

After walking through a wonder room, the visitors enter into the exhibition room, hosting six display structures, that mimic a gigantic album ready to be open, thanks to eight side panels which can be pulled out.


- The Antecedents: recurring iconography from ancient prints to contemporary cards and stickers

- Chromolithography: the invention of chromolithography and printing process from a drawing to a trade card

- Origin and Diffusion: from the French debut of trade cards in the second half of Nineteenth century to the Italian adventure of contests in the 1930s

- Liebig: the most famous trade card production in the world

- Not Only Trade Cards: cigarette cards, pocket calendars, poster stamps, menus, placecards, hotel luggage labels and other minor collections

- Modern Stickers and Cards: Post-World War Two sport cards and albums 


Every display structure develops a specific theme, nevertheless related to the others, with original prints and items: the pieces on display are 2500, while the total of the Museum holdings reaches the 500.000 units. The visitor can explore different points of view about history and customs of the last 150 years. 


Along with the permanent exhibition, a 12 meters long window hosts temporary exhibitions, dedicated to different subjects: science fiction, old advertising, astrology and myth, biodiversity. Every exhibition shows features hundreds of cards, also projected on the large screen in the hall, and an extensive catalogue.