Marco Tonelli Wins the 2026 “Luciano Marziano” City of Tarquinia Award

Marco Tonelli (Rome, 1971) is the winner of the third edition of the “Luciano Marziano” City of Tarquinia Award, a quadrennial award dedicated to art criticism established by the Tarquinia Society of Art and History (STAS) to honor the memory of Luciano Marziano, one of Italy’s most authoritative scholars of contemporary ceramics. The 2026 edition holds special significance because it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the historian and art critic’s passing in 2016. The award reaffirms the city of Tarquinia’s commitment to promoting culture and contemporary art.

The award ceremony took place on Saturday, July 4, 2026, at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia, a symbolic site representing the city and its historical and archaeological heritage. During the event, the jury outlined the process that led to the selection of the winner of the third edition, emphasizing the value of the award as a tool for promoting critical research and dialogue between historical heritage and the contemporary world. The jury was composed of Lorenzo Fiorucci, art critic and historian and winner of the second edition of the Luciano Marziano Prize; Andrea Andreani, council member of the City of Tarquinia; Daniela Muratti, granddaughter of Luciano Marziano; Nadia Carboni of the Italian Association of Ceramic Cities (AiCC); and artist Tommaso Cascella.

The award was presented to Marco Tonelli with a citation highlighting his contribution to the study and promotion of contemporary art, with a particular focus on ceramics as a language of sculpture. Marco Tonelli succeeds Lorenzo Fiorucci, winner of the award at the second edition (2022), and Flaminio Gualdoni, who won the inaugural edition (2018) and thus served as a juror for the second edition.

The jury honored Tonelli with the following citation: “For the authority of his career as a scholar, critic, and curator, and for his contribution to the understanding and promotion of contemporary art, with a particular focus on ceramics as a language of sculpture. Following in the footsteps of Luciano Marziano’s legacy, Marco Tonelli has successfully combined historical research, critical rigor, and an openness to experimentation, fostering a fruitful dialogue between theoretical reflection and artistic practice and contributing significantly to the dissemination and appreciation of the languages of contemporary sculpture.”

An art historian and critic, Marco Tonelli teaches History of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and serves as scientific curator of the Fondazione Progetti Beverly Pepper in Todi. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, and since 2025, he has served on the Scientific Council of the Fedrigoni Fabriano Foundation. Throughout his career, he has held numerous leadership positions within Italian cultural institutions. These include executive roles at the Rome Quadriennale and the City of Mantua. He also served as artistic director of the Montelupo Fiorentino Museum Foundation, where he conceived the “Materia Prima” project—a series of exhibitions dedicated to ceramics and the relationship between works of art and urban space—and directed Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto.

In addition to his curatorial work, Tonelli is the author of numerous monographs and essays on modern and contemporary artists. Over the years, his research has stood out for its focus on the languages of sculpture and for his contribution to the dissemination of contemporary art—aspects that the jury identified as fully consistent with the spirit of the award dedicated to Luciano Marziano.

The 2026 edition takes on, as mentioned, further symbolic significance because it marks the tenth anniversary of the passing of Luciano Marziano, who was born in 1929 and died in 2016. An art historian and critic, and a student of Giulio Carlo Argan, Marziano was one of the figures who contributed most significantly to the recognition of contemporary ceramics as a language fully integrated into the art scene of the twentieth century and the contemporary era. Throughout his career, he devoted much of his research to the study of Italian ceramic production, helping to overcome a view that relegated this medium exclusively to the realm of craftsmanship, and instead affirming its role within contemporary artistic practice.

After a long career in the world of cultural institutions and public administration, Marziano moved to Tarquinia, where he continued his scholarly work and cultural outreach. In this city in the Lazio region, he contributed significantly to the development of the local artistic discourse and to the promotion of the area’s ceramic tradition.

His theoretical reflections reached full maturity in his final writings dedicated to the expressive potential of contemporary ceramics—texts that remain a point of reference for scholars, critics, and professionals in the field to this day.

The City of Tarquinia Award was established precisely with the aim of keeping this cultural legacy alive, honoring figures who, through criticism, research, and curation, contribute to the development of the debate on contemporary art and, in particular, on sculpture and ceramics.

Marco Tonelli Wins the 2026 “Luciano Marziano” City of Tarquinia Award

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