Angeli - Messaggeri, custodi e viandanti, le sublimi creature dall'Antico al Contemporaneo (Angels - Messengers, guardians and travellers, the sublime creatures from the Ancient to the Contemporary)

The exhibition at the Capitoline Museums, conceived to coincide with the Jubilee Year and curated by Massimo Rossi Ruben and Viviana Vannucci, in collaboration with His Eminence Angelo Comastri and the Italian State Railways, is dedicated to the figure of Angels in the History of Art.

Through a selection of works from various Italian and European collections - paintings, sculptures, and parchment - from museum and private collections, the exhibition presents a thematic journey dedicated to the central role angelic figures play in Western artistic tradition. The project traces their iconographic evolution: over the centuries, angels have stimulated the collective imagination to the point of becoming an essential iconographic topos of art in its various forms.

The exhibition spans a broad chronological span, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age, with references to the early Christian tradition. It is divided into three thematic sections: The Messengers, The Guardians, and The Wayfarers, which illustrate these figures in all their facets, highlighting their aspects of guardianship, guidance, and proclamation.

The exhibition features works of extraordinary artistic interest, including Pietro da Cortona's Guardian Angel (1656), from the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini; Carlo Dolci's The Annunciation Angel (c. 1650), on loan from the Uffizi Gallery; and Guercino's Saint Matthew with the Angel (1622), formerly in the Capitoline Museums collection. The exhibition also offers the opportunity to admire works from private institutions, noble collections, or foundations not normally accessible to the public, on exceptional loan. Among the latter, we highlight Giovanni Antonio Galli's Guardian Angel (c. 1620), known as Lo Spadarino, housed in the Church of San Rufo in Rieti. There are also numerous works by contemporary artists, belonging to private collections. These include Ultramarine Blue and Re-Annunciation of an Annunciation by Emilian artist Omar Galliani, and Rebel Angel on a Dark Blue Background by Osvaldo Licini. The exhibition project therefore boasts a corpus of works of extraordinary importance, the result of synergy with prestigious lending institutions.

The exhibition is promoted by Rome Capital, the Department of Culture and Coordination of Initiatives Related to Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage. It is organized by the European Center for Tourism and Culture, chaired by Giuseppe Lepore, with the museum services of Zètema Progetto Cultura. The catalog is published by Gangemi Editore.

Photo: Guercino, Saint Matthew and the Angel (1622), oil on canvas, inv. PC55, Capitoline Museums