What is hidden “inside” a work of art?
The exhibition “Art from Inside. Masterpieces unveiled between art and science “, a multidisciplinary cultural project conceived by Fondazione Bracco and presented for the first time in a major exhibition context such as Milan’s Palazzo Reale, from Oct. 9, 2025 until Jan. 6, 2026, proposes to the visitor a question that is only apparently simple, but which opens up an entire universe: what lies behind – and inside – a work of art? A world of research, restoration, protection and enhancement, fundamental and often invisible aspects that the public is rarely invited to reflect on.
“Art from Inside. Masterpieces Revealed Between Art and Science” is an innovative project that combines art, research and high popularization. The exhibition itinerary, with free access, takes visitors on a fascinating journey through art between the 15th and 18th centuries, revealing-thanks to diagnostic analyses and 1:1 scale reproductions-the hidden layers of eight masterpieces through an immersive, multimedia narrative. In this dialogue between art and science, technology becomes a tool for reading and wonder, allowing access to dimensions not normally visible. From Beato Angelico to Piero della Francesca, from Piero del Pollaiolo to Leonardo’s Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, to Caravaggio, Giovanna Garzoni – one of the greatest artists of her century – and a precious 18th-century violin by Lorenzo Storioni, the exhibition offers a pantheon of masters who have marked the history of Italian art, investigating their work from a never-before-seen perspective.
Through careful scientific investigation, each work reveals a “secret life”: hidden decisions, regrets, changes in commissioning, compositional variations and technical layering. These are all elements that escape direct observation, emerging instead thanks to the contribution of the most advanced diagnostic technologies. Where the eyes of the restorer and art historian stop, science intervenes today – revealing what for centuries remained hidden beneath the surface. A radical and compelling immersion into the artists’ creative process.
Promoted by the City of Milan – Culture and produced by Palazzo Reale and Fondazione Bracco, in collaboration with 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE.
The exhibition benefits from the scientific advice of the team coordinated by Isabella Castiglioni, Full Professor of Applied Physics at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Scientific Director Centro Diagnostico Italiano – CDI, and art historian Stefano Zuffi.
