From landmark anniversaries and museum-defining retrospectives to once-in-a-generation international loans, Italy’s exhibition calendar is as rich and wide-ranging as the country’s cultural heritage itself. This season, museums and foundations across Italy are hosting exhibitions and shows that span centuries and disciplines—from ancient civilisations and Renaissance masters to modern art, photography and cutting-edge design and these are the most compelling exhibitions to see in Italy right now.
1
Beato Angelico at Palazzo Strozzi & Museo di San Marco, Florence
Seventy years on from Florence’s last major tribute, this landmark exhibition reunites masterpieces by Beato Angelico across two historic venues. Paintings, drawings and sculptures—many newly restored—chart the artist’s luminous synthesis of late Gothic grace and early Renaissance innovation. In dialogue with figures such as Masaccio, Filippo Lippi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, the exhibition reveals Angelico’s mastery of light, perspective and spiritual intimacy. Rare altarpieces, separated for centuries, are brought together in an ambitious project that reaffirms Florence as the beating heart of the Renaissance. WEBSITE
Until 25/01/2026
Photo: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio
2
Flowers: From the Renaissance to Artificial Intelligence at Chiostro del Bramante, Rome
At the Chiostro del Bramante, Rome’s most elegant Renaissance cloister, “Flowers. From the Renaissance to Artificial Intelligence” unfurls as a lush, genre-defying celebration of nature’s most poetic motif. This is the largest Italian exhibition ever devoted to flowers, tracing their enduring power across five centuries of art, science, and technology. Old Masters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder and the Pre-Raphaelite visions of Burne-Jones and William Morris converse effortlessly with contemporary voices including Ai Weiwei, Kapwani Kiwanga, Kehinde Wiley and immersive digital installations by Studio Drift and Miguel Chevalier. Sensory elements heighten the experience: a botanical promenade, an enveloping corridor of suspended blooms by Rebecca Louise Law, and an olfactory journey crafted around jasmine, rose, tuberose and orange blossom. WEBSITE
Until 22/02/2026
3
Michelangelo e Bologna at Palazzo Fava, Bologna
Marking the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo’s birth, this exhibition offers a nuanced portrait of the artist through his formative and decisive encounters with Bologna. Curated by Cristina Acidini and Alessandro Cecchi, the show weaves together sculptures, drawings, historical casts and rare documents to illuminate Michelangelo’s early genius and evolving artistic identity. From the youthful Madonna della Scala to the sculptures for the Arca di San Domenico, the exhibition situates Michelangelo within the political and cultural fabric of Renaissance Bologna. Letters, archival material and a focus on his relationship with Pope Julius II enrich a narrative that reveals an artist shaped as much by place and circumstance as by singular brilliance. WEBSITE
Until 15/02/2026
4
Mani-Fattura: le ceramiche di Lucio Fontana at Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venice
Best known for his slashed canvases, Lucio Fontana is reintroduced here through the material that accompanied him throughout his life: clay. This first museum exhibition dedicated entirely to his ceramic production brings together around 70 works—some never previously exhibited—tracing four decades of experimentation across two continents. Curated by Sharon Hecker, the show reveals Fontana as a sculptor deeply attuned to the physical, tactile possibilities of matter. From figurative works to radical abstractions, from intimate objects to architectural commissions, the exhibition reframes ceramics as Fontana’s laboratory of ideas. Archival photographs and a newly commissioned film further enrich this portrait of an artist for whom clay was not craft, but a vital, expressive language. WEBSITE
Until 02/03/2026
5
Ferrari Design. Creative Journeys 2010-2025 at Mauto (museo nazionale dell’automobile), Turin
At MAUTO, automotive design takes centre stage in Ferrari Design. Creative Journeys 2010–2025, the inaugural exhibition of the museum’s new 2,000-square-metre Spazio Design. Developed with Centro Stile Ferrari, the show presents eleven landmark models conceived under the direction of Flavio Manzoni, alongside sketches, prototypes and behind-the-scenes imagery. Rather than celebrating form alone, the exhibition reveals the creative process where aesthetics, engineering and performance converge. Immersive and didactic, it offers a rare insight into how Ferrari’s contemporary visual language is shaped—from initial intuition to final, road-ready masterpiece. WEBSITE
Until 08/03/2026
6
White out at La Triennale, Milan
To celebrate the Winter Olympics Milano-Cortina, Milano’s Triennale is showcasing the new exhibition: White Out. Taking its name from the alpine phenomenon in which sky and snow dissolve into a single, disorienting plane of white, this exhibition uses this visual metaphor as a lens through which to examine a changing climate. Here, design, architecture and technology are brought into sharp conversation with the future of skiing, climbing and mountain sport, exploring how innovation might respond to an increasingly fragile environment. . Organised into a series of thematic chapters, prototypes, materials and visionary designs reveal how creativity is already reshaping high-altitude landscapes, while also posing more unsettling questions about sustainability and survival. WEBSITE
Until 15/03/2026
7
Cartier & Myths at the Capitoline Museums
From 14 November 2025 to 15 March 2026, the Capitoline Museums stage one of Rome’s most beguiling encounters between antiquity and haute joaillerie with Cartier & Myths at Palazzo Nuovo. For the first time, the marble gods of the city’s oldest public museum enter into an intimate dialogue with some of the Maison’s most illustrious creations, many drawn from the Cartier Collection itself. Curated by jewellery historian Bianca Cappello alongside archaeologist Stéphane Verger and Capitoline superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce, the exhibition traces how Cartier has mined the visual language of Greece and Rome since the 19th century, transforming ancient motifs into modern icons. Jewels inspired by Aphrodite, Apollo and Dionysus shimmer beside their sculpted counterparts; Neoclassical garlands give way to Cocteau-era reveries and contemporary reinterpretations. Enhanced by Dante Ferretti’s scenography and subtle olfactory installations by Cartier perfumer Mathilde Laurent, it is a richly atmospheric journey that engages your senses. WEBSITE
Until 15/03/2026
8
The Olympic Ideal: From Antiquity to Milano Cortina 2026, at Fondazione Luigi Rovati, Milan
Created to mark the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, this sweeping exhibition explores the enduring values of sport—from ancient Greece to today’s global Games. Archaeological treasures sit alongside iconic modern memorabilia, from Greek strigils to Usain Bolt’s racing kit, tracing rituals, discipline and the symbolism of victory. Highlights include a powerful section on the Olympic torch, historic posters and athlete uniforms, and a timeline spanning nearly three millennia. It’s a thoughtful, beautifully curated reflection on how sport continues to shape collective identity and cultural memory. WEBSITE
Until 22/03/2026
9
Bella la vita a Venezia / Disapparire. Antonio Corradini and Luigi Ghirri at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
Two exhibitions, one curatorial vision, both rooted in Venice. Bella la vita a Venezia presents the complete cycle of Gabriel Bella’s paintings—69 canvases capturing the rituals, spectacles and daily life of 18th-century Venice with documentary precision and civic pride. Shown alongside historical engravings and archival films from the Istituto Luce, the exhibition reflects on how the city has long shaped its own image. On the upper floor, Disapparire stages a poetic dialogue between the veiled marble of Antonio Corradini and the ethereal photography of Luigi Ghirri. United by themes of concealment and revelation, matter and light, the two shows together position the Querini as a place where historical memory and contemporary vision continually intersect. WEBSITE
Until 12/04/2026
10
Giorgio Armani: Milano per Amore, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
For the first time, fashion enters the halls of the Pinacoteca di Brera in a major exhibition celebrating 50 years of Giorgio Armani. Over 120 looks from the Armani Archive are displayed in dialogue with masterpieces of Italian art, revealing the designer’s signature language of restraint, precision and quiet sensuality. Neutral palettes, impeccable tailoring and unexpected surface treatments unfold like a visual essay on modern elegance. More than a retrospective, the exhibition positions Armani’s work as a cultural force—where aesthetics become ethics, and fashion claims its place among the arts. WEBSITE
Until 03/05/2026
11
I Tesori dei Faraoni, la mostra at the Scuderie del Quirinale
An exhibition of rare scale and ambition, Tesori dei Faraoni opens a privileged window onto ancient Egypt, bringing 130 extraordinary works to Rome from the most important Egyptian museums. Curated by Dr. Tarek El Awady, the show is only the second time Egypt has authorised such an extensive international loan. Sculptures, sarcophagi, royal jewellery and funerary masterpieces—many never before shown in Italy—trace the arc of a civilisation shaped by divine kingship, ritual and eternity. Highlights include the Triad of Menkaure, the golden funerary mask of Amenemope and the exquisite jewels of Queen Ahhotep. Six thematic sections, alongside a focus on the recently rediscovered “Golden City,” offer a vivid, immersive narrative that bridges archaeology, myth and diplomacy. WEBSITE
Until 03/05/2026
12
“Impressionismo e oltre. Capolavori dal Detroit Institute of Arts”: Dagas, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh at Museo dell’Ara Pacis
From the birth of Impressionism to the radical experiments of the early 20th century, this major exhibition brings 52 masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts back to Europe. Curated by Ilaria Miarelli Mariani and Claudio Zambianchi, the show traces the evolution of modern painting through works by Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani and Kandinskij. Organised in four sections, the exhibition explores the shifting relationship between light and colour, nature and the modern city, figuration and abstraction. Standout works such as Renoir’s Donna in poltrona and Cézanne’s Bagnanti anchor a luminous journey that underscores how European avant-gardes helped shape one of America’s most important museum collections. WEBSITE
Until 03/05/2026
13
Rothko at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
From 14 March to 23 August 2026, Palazzo Strozzi stages one of the most significant exhibitions ever dedicated to Mark Rothko, placing the American master of modern art in an unlikely yet profoundly resonant dialogue with Florence. Curated by Christopher Rothko and Elena Geuna, Rothko a Firenze is a bespoke project conceived specifically for the Renaissance palazzo, exploring the tension that defined the artist’s work: between classical measure and emotional freedom, structure and transcendence. More than 70 works—on loan from institutions such as MoMA, the Met, Tate, the Centre Pompidou and the National Gallery of Art—trace Rothko’s entire career, revealing how colour becomes architecture, space and atmosphere. The exhibition extends beyond Palazzo Strozzi into two sites dear to the artist: the Museo di San Marco, where Rothko’s works converse with Fra Angelico’s frescoes, and Michelangelo’s Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, where modern abstraction meets Renaissance genius. WEBSITE
14
GAM 100. Un secolo di Galleria comunale 1925-2025, Rome
Exactly one century after its founding, Rome’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna marks a milestone with a sweeping anniversary exhibition that charts the evolution of Italian and European modern art. Set within the former Carmelite convent on Via Francesco Crispi, GAM 100 brings together more than 100 works drawn from a collection of over 3,000 pieces, spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries. From late 19th-century realism to Futurism, the Roman School, Novecento and post-war abstraction, the exhibition unfolds as both an art-historical journey and an institutional portrait. Masterpieces by Balla, Carrà, Sironi, De Chirico, Guttuso and Antonietta Raphaël guide visitors through a century of experimentation, while archival material traces the gallery’s own transformations—mirroring the cultural shifts of modern Italy itself. WEBSITE
Until 11/10/2026
