From September 23, 2025 to January 11, 2026, the Royal Palace in Milan will host an exhibition entirely dedicated to Andrea Appiani (Milan, 1754 - 1817), among the greatest representatives of Italian Neoclassicism. The exhibition project, entitled Appiani. Neoclassicism in Milan, aims to restore an overall vision of the author’s artistic path and the cultural context in which he worked, with particular attention to the role played by Milan in the artistic panorama between the Enlightenment and the Empire.
The initiative is promoted by the City of Milan - Culture and realized by Palazzo Reale with Civita Mostre e Musei, Electa and MondoMostre. The project has been able to count on important partnerships with French museum institutions such as the Châteaux de Malmaison et de Bois, the Grand Palais and the Louvre, as well as the collaboration of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Metropolitan City of Milan, the Pinacoteca di Brera and Villa Carlotta. The exhibition is curated by Fernando Mazzocca, Francesco Leone and Domenico Piraina.
The exhibition is proposed as an opportunity to reread and update the figure of Appiani, a protagonist of the painting scene between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, celebrated during his lifetime and then gradually removed from 20th-century art history. Called the “painter of the Graces,” Appiani was an official artist of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, serving a political power that wanted to make art an instrument of ideological and institutional representation. He was entrusted with major religious, aristocratic and state commissions, and his name was associated with an artistic language marked by balance, formal composure and an ideal of classical beauty filtered through Enlightenment sensibilities.
The exhibition includes more than 100 works, including paintings, drawings and preparatory studies, from numerous Italian and foreign collections. Lenders include important French museums such as the Louvre, Musée Carnavalet and Châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau, as well as the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles. On the Italian side, loans from Milan’s civic collections-including the Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Accademia di Brera, and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna-but also from museums such as the Civici Musei di Brescia, Villa Carlotta, and private collections stand out.
The selection of works aims to offer an articulated view of Appiani’s work, following both chronological and thematic criteria. The public will be able to appreciate the developments of his painting, from his youthful period, marked by 18th-century influences, to his full maturity, in which the neoclassical lesson merges with narrative and symbolic needs proper to the Napoleonic season. Of particular interest are the large frescoes and works created for public and religious buildings, which testify to the centrality assumed by Appiani in the arts system of his time.
A not secondary aspect of the exhibition concerns the cultural and artistic context of neoclassical Milan, a city that at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries experienced intense intellectual activity and a dense network of relationships among artists, architects, scientists and philosophers. Appiani was a sensitive interpreter of this temperament, working in dialogue with figures such as Giuseppe Parini and Ugo Foscolo, and participating in the definition of an artistic taste that sought to be both modern and inspired by antiquity. His work is part of a historical season in which art assumed a civil, educational and identity function.
The exhibition catalog is published by Electa. In addition to the three curators, the scientific committee is composed of Alessia Alberti, Rémi Cariel, Emanuela Carpani, Elisabeth Caude, Simone Percacciolo, Mariangela Privitera, Xavier Salmon, Paola Strada, Francesca Tasso and Paola Zatti.
The initiative is supported by Fondazione Bracco, the exhibition’s main sponsor, which has confirmed its commitment to promoting culture as a tool for social growth. The financial support of Biofer Spa also enabled the restoration of some of the works on display, including an important cartoon from the Louvre.
The exhibition is part of the Milan Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad program, a multidisciplinary project promoted on the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games scheduled in Italy in 2026. The Cultural Olympiad aims to enhance the link between sports, art and society, and Appiani. Neoclassicism in Milan represents one of the main appointments within the planned events. In this sense, the review contributes to a broader reflection on Italian cultural identity and the role that art can play in promoting shared values.
Thanks to the collaboration with the European Federation of Napoleonic Cities, of which the Royal Palace is a member, the exhibition will also be promoted through the network of member cities, schools and cultural education programs coordinated by the Secretariat of Cultural Routes in Luxembourg. In addition, the Royal Palace’s membership in the European Association of Royal Residences has facilitated scientific and institutional relationships with numerous European museums and cultural centers, strengthening the international character of the exhibition.
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Thursday 10 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. Monday closed. Last admission one hour before closing. Holiday Hours: Holiday Hours Saturday, Nov. 1 (All Saints’ Day) 10:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 7 (St. Ambrose) 10:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 8 (Immaculate Conception) 10:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) 10:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 25 (Christmas) 2:30 - 18:30; Friday, December 26 (Boxing Day) 10:00 - 19:30; Wednesday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve) 10:00 - 14:30; Thursday, January 1 (New Year’s Eve) 14:30 - 22:30; Monday, January 5 10:00 - 19:30; Tuesday, January 6 (Epiphany) 10:00 - 19:30. Tickets: Open € 17.00 (Allows the purchase of a ticket valid for one admission without a predetermined date and time); Full € 15.00; Reduced Group € 13.00 (Groups of at least 15 and maximum 25 people, with free admission of one guide/escort for each group); Reduced Single € 13.00 (Visitors aged 6 to 26; over 65; Touring Club members with card; FAI members with card; Poldi Pezzoli / Museo Teatrale alla Scala “Lunedì Musei” initiative ticket holders; military personnel; police not on duty; teachers); Reduced agreement € 10.00 (Students up to 25 years of age; people with disabilities, disability less than 100%; Card Musei Lombardia season ticket holders; Orticola members with valid annual card); Reduced schools € 6.00 (Groups of students of all school levels, comprising minimum 15 and maximum 25 people, free admission for 2 accompanying persons per group); Reduced Touring and FAI groups € 6.00 (Groups organized directly by the Touring Club or FAI to which the fixed presale fee does not apply, free admission for 1 accompanying person/guide per group); Special reduced single € 6.00 (Civil Service Volunteers working at the Municipality of Milan upon presentation of identification card; non-accredited journalists with OdG card bearing the current year’s stamp). Free: Children under 6 years of age; people with disabilities (100 percent disability) and one accompanying person; employees of the Soprintendenza ai Beni Paesaggistici e Architettonici di Milano (Superintendency of Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Milan); ICOM cardholders; tour guides (upon presentation of professional qualification card); journalists accredited by the press office of the Municipality and the exhibition (upon indication of header and date of visit).
|
|
| Andrea Appiani and Neoclassicism on display at Milan's Palazzo Reale |
Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.
