GIOVAN FRANCESCO PENNI AND MARCELLO PROVENZALE: TWO UPCOMING DOSSIER EXHIBITIONS STARTING MARCH 17 AT GALLERIA BORGHESE
With the exhibitions Return to Galleria Borghese: Giovan Francesco Penni and Raphael’s Workshop and Marcello Provenzale of Cento: A Genius of Baroque Mosaic in the Rome of the Borghese, running from March 17 to May 10, 2026, Galleria refocuses attention on two central chapters of its collecting history, encompassing history, attributions, and critical rediscovery.
With Return to Galleria Borghese, curated by Lucia Calzona, the museum celebrates 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 careful and rigorous work in reconstructing its historical and collecting identity.
The exhibition Marcello Provenzale of Cento: A Genius of Baroque Mosaic in the Rome of the Borghese – produced in collaboration with the Pinacoteca Civica “il Guercino” in Cento, where the show will move in a different configuration from October 2, 2026, to January 10, 2027, brings the figure of Marcello Provenzale back to center stage. He was a leading protagonist of the mosaic rebirth in the Rome of Paul V, one of the most significant moments in the revival of this practice between the 16th and 17th centuries. On the 450th anniversary of the artist’s birth, Galleria celebrates a key figure of artistic culture in Borghese Rome, a central player in transforming mosaic into a modern language within the climate of the Counter-Reformation.
Through these two different paths, united by the same creative fervor – Penni, among Raphael’s closest and most brilliant collaborators, a silent but decisive protagonist of an unrepeatable artistic era, and Provenzale, a brilliant and visionary mosaicist who placed his talent at the service of Pope Paul V – Galleria Borghese intends to explore crucial turning points in its history and collecting legacy. This demonstrates once again the extraordinary cultural vitality of Borghese Rome as a crossroads of masters, innovations, and ambitious artistic ventures.
Find out more about the Penni exhibition click here
Find out more about the Provenzale exhibition click here