I Macchiaioli

One of the most important and comprehensive retrospectives on the Macchiaioli presented in recent decades, curated by the three foremost Italian experts on the movement: Francesca Dini, Elisabetta Matteucci, and Fernando Mazzocca.

Through more than ninety works, the exhibition represents a moment of rediscovery, reflection, and celebration of a fundamental chapter in the history of art, that helped shape the cultural heritage of Italy. The project proposes a new and in-depth interpretation of the Macchiaioli’s extraordinary artistic experience.

Promoted the Municipality of Milano – Cultura and produced by Palazzo Reale, 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE, and Civita Mostre e Musei, the exhibition—opening to the public on 3 February 2026—is organized in partnership with theIstituto Matteucci of Viareggio . It brings together loans from the most important Italian museums housing works by the Macchiaioli, including the Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori in Livorno, the Accademia di Belle Arti and the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Uffizi Galleries and Palazzo Pitti, the Museo del Risorgimento and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan, the Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin, as well as numerous private collections..

Structured into nine sections, the exhibition retraces the brief yet intense journey of the Macchiaioli, narrating their “national” experiment,an artistic and civic project rooted in the ideals of the Risorgimento. These were erudited painters who embraced both Mazzini’s thought and the Positivist ideas coming from France, and who fought passionately to transform society through their art during the pivotal period of Italian unification.
Through the most significant works by Silvestro Lega, Giovanni Fattori, Vincenzo Cabianca, Odoardo Borrani, Telemaco Signorini, Giuseppe Abbati, and Raffaello Sernesi, the exhibition highlights the distinct personalities of these young artists,who transformed their cult of reason into a cult of truth, and under this banner, fought with determination to reconnect art with reality and with life itself.

Press Office – 24 ORE Cultura
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