RETURN TO GALLERIA BORGHESE.

From March 17 to May 10, 2026, Galleria Borghese will host an exhibition curated by Lucia Calzona, dedicated to the “homecoming” of a precious allegory, the Allegory of Good Hope, attributed to Giovan Francesco Penni and acquired at auction on May 14, 2025. This acquisition is part of a project, strongly championed by the museum, to recompose and restore the original appearance of its collection through a careful and rigorous process of reconstructing the museum’s historical and collecting identity.

With Return to Galleria Borghese, alongside the exhibition Marcello Provenzale of Cento: A Genius of Baroque Mosaic in the Rome of the Borghese , the museum resumes its program of “dossier exhibitions.” These are research projects focused on a selected number of works from the collection, designed to explore crucial turning points in its history and restore its original character to the public, refocusing attention on a central chapter of its collecting legacy through history, attributions, and critical rediscovery.

The arched panel, whose Borghese provenance is documented in 17th-century inventories as a work by Raphael—to whom Penni was a close collaborator—is displayed in the very room that houses Renaissance painting and the masterpieces of the great Umbrian and Tuscan master, marking a reunification awaited for over two centuries.

The allegory is presented alongside Charity, its original pendant, now in a private collection. The reconstruction of this diptych, which was separated at the end of the 18th century, provides an opportunity to reinterpret a decisive passage in the collection’s history, from its first mentions in inventories to the Ottley sales (1797–1799), which dispersed numerous works under the pressure of Napoleonic events.

Alongside the dialogue between the two panels, the exhibition explores the figure of Giovan Francesco Penni, a key protagonist in the dissemination of Raphael’s style in early 16th-century Rome. The presence of the Adoration of the Child with Saint Joseph and the Infant Saint John, from the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in Cava de’ Tirreni—one of the few certain works by the artist—serves as a fundamental point of comparison for the attributional study of the Borghese panels.

The integration of these three works with the masterpieces already in the room provides a detailed picture of the master’s workshop, highlighting the stylistic continuities and collaborative dynamics that characterized the group’s production. Return to Galleria Borghese: Giovan Francesco Penni and Raphael’s Workshop thus intertwines the history of collecting, attributional research, and reflection on the shared work of the workshop, conveying the complexity of early 16th-century figurative culture.

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