Brescia: Francesco Vezzoli’s “Nike Metafisica” Joins the Permanent

Brescia: “Nike Metafisica” joins the permanent route at the Museo di Santa Giulia

Location: Viridarium – Contemporary Sculpture Park, Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia.

The Nike Metafisica by Francesco Vezzoli has been inaugurated and permanently installed in the Viridarium of the Museo di Santa Giulia. The sculpture revisits the famous Nike of Samothrace through motifs of 20th-century metaphysical painting, evoking the suspended atmospheres of Giorgio de Chirico and Alberto Savinio and blending classical references with a modern visual language.

Previously featured in the site-specific exhibition Palcoscenici archeologici. Curatorial interventions by Francesco Vezzoli (Brescia, 11 June 2021 – 16 January 2022), the work now belongs to the municipal collections managed by Fondazione Brescia Musei and enriches the museum’s permanent exhibition route.

• Context: ongoing dialogue between archaeology and contemporary art.
• Placement: the Museo di Santa Giulia sculpture park (Viridarium).
• Curatorial aim: enhancing historical heritage through contemporary interventions.

The Nike Metafisica complements works by other artists already on site, including Michelangelo Pistoletto (TERZO PARADISO), Ariel Schlesinger, Valerio Rocco Orlando and Emilio Isgrò. Together they form a route that connects ancient materials and contemporary artistic practices, turning archaeological spaces into places of reinterpretation and exchange.

At the same time, curated by Francesco Vezzoli with institutional partners, the installation Victoria Mater. The Idol and the Icon is on display in the Roman archaeological park inside the Capitolium until 21 June 2026, proposing a dialogue between classical bronzes and contemporary gestures.

Visitor note: the Museo di Santa Giulia offers a layered experience that links Brescia’s Roman archaeological prominence to contemporary art initiatives, encouraging new perspectives on historical objects and spaces.