Vasari and Rome: the works of the Renaissance master on display in the Capitoline Museums

Rome hosts a new exhibition dedicated to Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, 1511 - Florence, 1574), concluding the celebrations for the 450th anniversary of his death. Vasari and Rome, set up in the Capitoline Museums at Palazzo Caffarelli from March 20 to July 19, 2026, offers an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the artist from Arezzo and the eternal city. The project, promoted by Roma Capitale and the Assessorato alla Cultura e al Coordinamento delle iniziative riconducibili alla Giornata della Memoria, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, is organized by the MetaMorfosi Association in collaboration with Zètema Progetto Cultura and curated by Alessandra Baroni.

The exhibition aims to restore to the public the complexity of the figure of Vasari, known not only as a painter and architect, but also as a set designer and biographer, capable of documenting the lives of popes, lords, men of letters and artists of the 16th century. Visitors will be able to observe the richness of his Roman sojourns through drawings, prints, engravings, letters, medals, sculptures and autograph paintings. Works on display include the Resurrection executed with Raffaellino del Colle (circa 1545, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte), the Resurrection of Christ (1550, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena) and the Portrait of a Gentleman (Musei di Strada Nuova - Palazzo Bianco, Genoa).

Of particular note are two masterpieces from the Hermitage of Camaldoli in the Casentino: the Nativity (1538), known as the Night of Camaldoli, and theOration in the Garden (1571), works that mark the beginning and concluding phases of his artistic career, respectively. A major international loan enriches the exhibition: theAnnunciation (1570-1571) from the Móra Ferenc Múzeum in Szeged, Hungary, evidence of Vasari’s last creative season.

The exhibition itinerary highlights the fundamental role of Rome in Vasari’s education, in his confrontation with ancient art and with the great contemporary masters, from Raphael to Michelangelo. The city represented fertile ground for his professional and literary development, thanks in part to the intermediation of influential figures such as the Florentine banker Bindo Altoviti and Bishop Paolo Giovio. In particular, his stay in Rome was decisive for the publication of the first edition of Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, a work that established Vasari as an art historian. The exhibition benefits from important loans from Italian and international institutions, including Palazzo Barberini, the Vive - Palazzo Venezia, the Uffizi Gallery, the State Archives of Florence, the Pinacoteca Nazionale of Bologna, theCasa Buonarroti Foundation Archives, the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe of the Uffizi Gallery, the Vatican Library, the Museo e Real Bosco of Capodimonte, the National Museum of Siena, and the Móra Ferenc Múzeum in Szeged.

Vasari and Rome: the works of the Renaissance master on display in the Capitoline Museums

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