“The Angel and the Moon” at Castel Sant’Angelo, “Metamorphosis: Ovid and the Arts” at Borghese Gallery, “Magic Lanterns” at Museo Carlo Bilotti, “Angels: Messengers, Guardians and Wanderers” at the Capitoline Museums, “The Shape of Silence” at Teldi Art Gallery, “Troy and Rome” at the Colosseum Archaelogical Park, and more.
Metamorphosis: Ovid and the Arts
Opening at the Borghese Gallery Metamorphosis: Ovid and the Arts explores transformation as a universal idea—shaping nature, humanity, and the cosmos. Inspired by the poetry of Ovid, the exhibition presents a world in constant change, where the boundaries between human, natural, and divine are fluid and ever-shifting. The show brings together masterpieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods through to more modern artists, including Michelangelo, Titian, Rubens, and later figures like Gérôme, Rodin, and Brâncuși. At its heart are iconic sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, including Apollo and Daphne (pictured) and Pluto and Proserpina, alongside other mythological treasures from the museum’s collection. Together, they highlight the enduring power of myth and its central role in shaping European imagination. Until Sept 20. galleriaborghese.cultura.gov.it
The Angel and the Moon
Once again, the festival L’Angelo e la Luna (The Angel and the Moon) returns to Rome with a rich programme of events revolving around contemporary circus, dance, music and theatre. The event brings together contemporary artistic languages and cultural heritage in the historic spaces of Castel Sant’Angelo. From July 2 to October 4, the festival will present 15 productions across 41 performances, featuring both Italian and international artists. Events will unfold throughout the castle’s most striking venues, including the Courtyard of Alexander VI, the Paolina Hall, the Bastion of San Matteo, the Hall of Apollo, the Courtyard of the Angel, and the panoramic Terrace. Through performances, concerts, site-specific events, dance and contemporary circus, the festival will gradually animate the entire visitor route, enhancing the castle’s spaces and strengthening their connection with the city. The result is an engaging dialogue between heritage and contemporary creativity, designed to attract an ever broader and more diverse audience. castelsantangelo.beniculturali.it
Magic Lanterns: Photographs from the Valerio De Paolis’ Collection
Magic Lanterns: Photographs from the Valerio De Paolis’ Collection, on view through September 6 at the Museo Carlo Bilotti – Aranciera di Villa Borghese, invites visitors on a series of visual journeys through the De Paolis Collection. Presented to the public for the first time, the collection features more than one hundred photographs by some of the leading figures of the art scene, including Nobuyoshi Araki, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Henri Cartier- Bresson, Elisabetta Catalano, Tracey Emin, Luigi Ghirri, Dennis Hopper, Mimmo Jodice, Man Ray, Herb Ritts, Mario Schifano, Franco Fontana, Cindy Sherman, Edward Weston, and Francesca Woodman. Like the shifting projections of a magic lantern, the photographs come together in a unique and emotionally charged spectacle. museocarlobilotti.it
Angels: Messengers, Guardians and Wanderers
One year after the death of Pope Francis, the Capitoline Museums are honoring his legacy with Angels: Messengers, Guardians and Wanderers — Sublime Creatures from Antiquity to the Contemporary Era, on view through November 1. The exhibition brings together works from important museums and prestigious private collections that explore the theme of angels in Western art across the centuries. Ranging from sacred messengers between heaven and earth to more human, symbolic figures in modern art, the journey covers everything from ancient archaeology to 21st-century art, highlighting themes of protection, guidance and hope, values closely associated with Pope Francis’s papacy and his heritage. museicapitolini.org
The Shape of Silence
In the heart of Rome, the newly born Teldi Art Gallery presents The Shape of Silence, an exhibition dedicated to renowned Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. The show features 41 works that blend classical inspiration with contemporary emotion. Mitoraj’s sculptures are known for their fragmented, larger-than-life figures; symbols of strength, vulnerability, and the connection between past and present. His famous “wounded giants” explore themes of memory, time, and human fragility. Through exhibitions and cultural events, Teldi Art Gallery highlights established contemporary artists whose work experiments with modern materials, ideas, and forms of expression. Until Sept 30. teldi.it
Troy and Rome: Myths, Legends, and Stories of the Ancient Mediterranean
American artist Robert Mapplethorpe (New York, 1946–1989) did not simply photograph subjects: he sculpted space through the lens of his Hasselblad camera, imbuing each image with an aura of timeless classicism, defined by geometric vision and a relentless pursuit of perfection. Until October 4, the Ara Pacis Museum hosts the exhibition Robert Mapplethorpe. The Forms of Beauty, a selection of around 200 of his photographs, each exploring the concept of beauty as absolute perfection and formal rigor. Distinguished by a series of previously unseen works, the exhibition focuses on the search for pure form, where the human body, faces, and still lifes are treated with the same meticulous attention to light and geometry. arapacis.it
