Ancient art

Important work by Giovan Francesco Penni returns to Borghese Gallery after two centuries

A return that stitches up a fragment of Italian collecting history. In fact, theAllegory of Good Hope by Giovan Francesco Penni (Florence, 1488 - Naples, 1528) has returned to Rome in the collection of the Galleria Borghese after more than two centur...
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Who completed Michelangelo's first Christ of the Minerva? There is a proposal for attribution

Who finished the First Christ of Minerva left unfinished by Michelangelo due to a defect in the marble? This is the knot that scholar Adriano Amendola of the University of Salerno has tried to untangle with a new and detailed study of his own, the re...
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Agostino Beltrano's Eucharistic Triptych from Pozzuoli Cathedral will be restored and reassembled

Agostino Beltrano 's Eucharistic Triptych from Pozzuoli Cathedral will undergo a major restoration and recomposition. The two canvases currently under restoration were identified in 2022 within the Capodimonte deposits by Professor Giuseppe Porzio of...
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France blocks last-minute auction of rare Hans Baldung Grien drawing

One of the most eagerly anticipated sales of the year for the antique drawing market was to be held on the afternoon of March 23 in the historic setting of theHôtel Drouot in Paris. Instead, just hours before bids were to be opened, the auction...
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Ostia Antica uncovers mosaics after winter: protective tarpaulin removal operations underway

With the arrival of milder days, seasonal operations have begun at the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park to uncover mosaics that remained protected during the winter months. The team of Ales Arte Lavoro e Servizi S.p.A. engaged in the Park has started...
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Face to face with Leonardo returns: sheet with Three views of manly head with beard exhibited in Turin

From March 20 to June 28, 2026, the Spazio Leonardo, on the second floor of the Sabauda Gallery of the Royal Museums of Turin, will host a new edition of A tu tu per tu con Leonardo, the project that offers the public, inside a climate-controlled, ar...
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At the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice the first full restoration of Bellini's St. Job Altarpiece

The first full restoration of Giovanni Bellini's St. Job Altarpiece, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance, is kicking off at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. For the first time, the intervention will be carrie...
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Rosso Fiorentino's first painting rediscovered: the Met in New York will acquire it

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has announced plans to acquire a newly rediscovered painting by Rosso Fiorentino (Giovanni Battista di Jacopo; Florence, 1494 - Fontainebleau, 1540), one of the leading figures of Mannerism. The work, a Mado...
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Vatican Museums resurface a work by El Greco

The Vatican Museums let it be known that they have found a work by El Greco (Domínikos Theotokópoulos; Candia, 1541 - Toledo, 1614) hitherto unknown because it was misunderstood: it is a Redeemer , which is now on display at thePapal Pa...
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Savoldo in gigapixel: the Portrait of a Young Man with Flute digitized

UniCredit Art Collection and Haltadefinizione, a Panini Group tech company, present a new project dedicated to enhancing the bank's artistic heritage, based on the integration of advanced technological tools and works from the painting tradition. At ...
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TEFAF 2026, key still life by Giacomo Cipper sold: it is the only one signed

One of the seminal paintings in the catalog of Giacomo Francesco Cipper (Feldkirch, 1664 - Milan, 1736), Still Life with Plate of Olives, Plate of Figs, Cheese, Celery a Bottle and Chalice, signed and dated 1700, was sold by the Matteo Salamon Galler...
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Rare head study by Hans Süss Von Kulmbach discovered: at auction at Giquello's for 200.00 euros

A rare study of a woman's head by Hans Süss von Kulmbach (Kulmbach, c. 1480 - Nuremberg, 1522), a contemporary of Albrecht Dürer, has been discovered and will be presented at auction by Giquello at Hôtel Drouot in Paris on March 31, 2...
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Two rare portraits of the Blind Man of Gambassi presented at TEFAF Maastricht

Two rare terracotta portraits by Tuscan sculptor Giovanni Gonnelli, known as the Cieco di Gambassi (Gambassi, 1603 - Rome, 1656), are presented by Rob Smeets Gallery at TEFAF Maastricht 2026, one of the most prestigious international fairs dedicated ...
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Raphael's Ecstasy of St. Cecilia flies from Bologna to the Metropolitan in New York

The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna is preparing to bid a temporary farewell to one of the most celebrated masterpieces held in its collections. Raphael 's TheEcstasy of Saint Cecilia (Urbino, 1483 - Rome, 1520) will in fact be the protagonist of an ...
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The state buys a masterpiece by Francesco Albani for the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna

More important blows from the state for Italian museums. Two new works join the collections of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, thus further enriching the holdings of Bologna's National Museums. They are a painting by Francesco Albani (Bologna, 1...
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State buys Caravaggio's Portrait of Maffeo Barberini for 30 million for Palazzo Barberini

The deed of purchase of Caravaggio's Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, a work of extraordinary importance that will become part of the heritage of the Italian state, was signed today at the Ministry of Culture. Upon completion of the required a...
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