Giotto’s Polyptych from the National Art Gallery of Bologna is heading to Romania. Starting today, September 22, the famous masterpiece will not be on view for a few weeks in Bologna and will travel to Romania, where it will be exhibited as part of the inaugural exhibition of the first edition of the Festival of Sacred Art in Iași, scheduled for October 4–30, 2026.
This loan comes at a special time for the National Art Gallery of Bologna, directed by Luigi Gallo, where a series of renovations and reorganization efforts to repurpose the museum’s spaces have begun in recent weeks. Among the first rooms affected by the work is the very one that houses the Bologna Polyptych, one of the most important masterpieces in the Pinacoteca’s collections.
Created by Giotto between 1330 and 1334, the Bologna Polyptych consists of five panels and is considered one of the seminal works of medieval painting. Its significance is also linked to the role the artist played in the profound renewal of Western painting.
Due to the renovation work at the Pinacoteca, the work will not be moved to storage, as is normally the case during such renovations. Instead, the Polyptych will embark on a journey to Iași, where it will be presented to the Romanian public thanks to an agreement between the governments of Italy and Romania. The exhibition takes on particular significance also because of the comparison between two leading figures in art history. Alongside Giotto’s masterpiece, a work by Constantin Brâncuși—one of the foremost figures in 20th-century sculpture, whose 150th birthday is being commemorated this year—will be on display. The dialogue between Giotto and Brâncuși thus brings together two figures who, in profoundly different eras, helped transform the artistic language of their respective times: painting in Giotto’s case and sculpture in Brâncuși’s.
The presence of Giotto’s Polyptych in Romania goes beyond a simple loan of a work of art. Its inclusion in the Festival of Sacred Art in Iași represents, in fact, an important opportunity for collaboration and cultural exchange between Italy and Romania, united by the goal of promoting awareness and appreciation of their respective artistic heritages.
Once the exhibition in Romania has ended, Giotto’s Polyptych will return to Bologna. Its return is scheduled to coincide with the completion of the renovation work, planned for November. The masterpiece will thus return to its gallery, which in the meantime will have been completely restored and redesigned, allowing the public to rediscover the work in a renewed space once again dedicated to showcasing it.
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| Pinacoteca di Bologna: Renovation Work in the Giotto Room, and the Polyptych Heads to Romania |
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