At theExtra MAXXI in Rome, the exhibition Creatures, Creators opens to the public on May 22, 2026. Saint Francis and Contemporary Art, curated by Beatrice Buscaroli. The exhibition, which can be visited until Sept. 20, 2026, is promoted and produced by the Ministry of Culture’s General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity together with the Fondazione MAXXI - National Museum of XXI Century Arts, as part of the initiatives of the National Committee for the celebrations of the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.
The exhibition project focuses on a reading of the saint that goes beyond the traditional iconographic image to investigate his ethical thought and worldview. The starting point is the Canticle of the Creatures, taken as an interpretative key to rereading some trajectories of Italian art from the post-World War II period to contemporary times. St. Francis is proposed as a figure capable of orienting a look at reality and suggesting new ways of relating between human beings, nature and the dimension of the sacred.
Works from the museum’s collection, including works by Stefano Arienti, Paolo Canevari, Bruna Esposito, Maria Lai, Piero Manzoni and Ettore Spalletti, are juxtaposed with historical and contemporary works within the exhibition. The dialogue among the works aims to shift attention from the direct representation of the saint’s figure to his insights and symbolic gestures, highlighting the persistence of his thought in contemporary artistic language.
The path relates different approaches to matter, landscape and memory. The works of Pier Paolo Calzolari, Stefano Arienti and Bruna Esposito construct a symbolic dimension traversed by natural elements and fragile presences, while the works of Alberto Burri, Mario Giacomelli, Giorgio Morandi and Ennio Morlotti focus on matter, time and the reduction of the image to essential elements. This framework also includes the research of Mario Schifano, Maria Lai, Antonio Del Donno and Paolo Canevari, who expand the confrontation with different visions of the relationship between figure, sign and the transformation of the living.
The exhibition also includes a selection of works by contemporary artists and more recent generations that address the Franciscan theme through symbolic registers and reinterpretations of the relationship between man and nature. This segment also includes the preview presentation of previously unseen works commissioned specifically for the project. The works by Jacopo Benassi, Chiara Calore, Aron Demetz, Fulvio Di Piazza, Marco Cingolani, Andrea Mastrovito, Alessandro Pessoli and Nicola Samorì offer a plurality of readings of the Franciscan gaze, between figure, landscape and metamorphosis of the living.
The exhibition project insists on the figure of Francis as parvolus, the little one, understood as a creature among creatures. This perspective becomes the guiding thread of a path that invites us to consider the world through a nonhierarchical relationship between human and nature, with particular attention to the themes of poverty, respect and coexistence. The curatorial approach thus focuses on the possibility of a reinterpretation of the present through thought that takes on both historical and current value. The exhibition is accompanied by the catalog Creature.Creators. Saint Francis and Contemporary Art, edited by Beatrice Buscaroli and published by Dario Cimorelli Editore, with the contribution of Aeroporti di Roma.
“The initiative draws its genesis and strength from the fruitful collaboration with the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture,” says Maria Emanuela Bruni, President Fondazione MAXXI. “This exhibition has the ambitious goal of embodying the multiple resonances of the Franciscan vision, while restoring its complexity. In this path, works from MAXXI’s collection, between historical works and recently acquired works, are shown offering visitors a moment of deep reflection.”
“With this initiative, the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity confirms its commitment to supporting projects capable of activating a lively confrontation between cultural heritage, artistic research and the sensibility of the present,” says Angelo Piero Cappello, Director General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture."Creatures, Creators offers a unique opportunity to reread the figure of St. Francis not only as a subject of the iconographic tradition, but as a generative principle of thought and vision, capable of still orienting the relationship between man, nature and the ethical dimension. The dialogue between artists of the second half of the 20th century and the contemporary gives back the vitality of a legacy that continues to produce meanings, confirming the role of institutions in promoting a culture that is open, inclusive and capable of questioning the present."
" This exhibition was born as a living and necessary confrontation with St. Francis, not only with his image, but with the strength of his gaze on reality," says Davide Rondoni, president of the National Committee for the celebration of the Eighth Centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. “The word ’creature,’ which gives meaning to the title, is today a profoundly revolutionary word: it reminds us that everything exists within a good mystery, which makes it lovable and worthy of attention. Francis teaches us that freedom is not whim, but energy to sing the real, to honor it, to investigate it and to love it. This is why art, when it accepts the risk of measuring itself against it, can rediscover its deepest need: not as an exercise in vanity, but as a sign, invocation and openness to the mystery of life.”
"Creature, Creators stems from the desire to reread the figure of St. Francis by restoring its visionary power and extraordinary relevance," argues Francesco Stocchi, MAXXI’s artistic director. “Through the dialogue between artists of different generations, the exhibition highlights how Franciscan thought, the relationship with the living, the idea of fragility, the relationship between man, nature and spirituality, still continues to deeply cross contemporary artistic research. In this sense, the project confirms MAXXI’s role as a place of confrontation between cultural memory and the sensibility of the present.”
" This, on the other hand, is a risky exhibition. Revolutionary. An exhibition-invocation says Rondoni and St. Francis is a still relevant figure, capable of crossing the present and offering a possibility of dialogue and hope in a world marked by conflict, individualism and fragmentation," says Beatrice Buscaroli, curator of the exhibition.
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| At MAXXI in Rome, an exhibition investigates St. Francis in contemporary art |
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