Carlo Maria Mariani: The Signs of the Times at Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte

Dates: April 16 – July 14, 2026

The Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples presents a tribute exhibition to Carlo Maria Mariani built around the donation of the canvas I Segni dei Tempi (2019) by the Carlo Maria Mariani and Carol Lane Mariani Foundation, New York. Curated by Antonio Martino and Andrea Viliani, the show pairs eight paintings by the artist with selected objects from the museum’s collections.

The exhibition stages a dialogue between classical inheritance and contemporary thought: the central painting places references to Raphael alongside Marcel Duchamp, highlighting the intellectual and metaphysical aspects of Mariani’s work. The installation includes pieces evoking classical statuary, Renaissance painting, Neoclassical decoration and 20th-century avant-garde currents.

• Key work: I Segni dei Tempi (2019), donated to the museum;
• Selected private-collection works: Iper/ri/cognizione 2 (1974), Orfeo (1979), Ercole che riposa (1976), Composizione 5, Dopo il bagno (1989), Gentil e Gaia (1974);
• Museum holdings on display: porcelain plates by Giovine (1818–19) and a bronze of the Farnese Hercules;
• Rare books and editorial materials included to support the curatorial narrative.

The exhibition aims to make visible the layered figurative research of Mariani: a meeting point between formal classicism and conceptual inquiry, with nods to theosophical interests and a vision of painting that inhabits historical time. The show also emphasizes the connection between the artist and Naples, situating the works within the city’s rich visual history.

A catalogue is published by Éditions Lord Byron. This exhibition marks a symbolic return of the artist to Naples and offers an opportunity to reassess his contribution within the museum’s contemporary art holdings.