Metamorphoses: Ovid and the Arts at Galleria Borghese (23 June–20

Metamorphoses: Ovid and the Arts — Galleria Borghese

From 23 June to 20 September 2026, Galleria Borghese stages an exhibition that explores the imaginative power of Ovid's Metamorphoses through more than 80 works loaned by major international institutions. Curated by Francesca Cappelletti and Frits Scholten in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, the show brings together painting, sculpture and visual arts from the Renaissance to the modern era.

The project uses Ovid's poem as a conceptual framework to investigate metamorphosis as a universal principle: change of forms, blurred boundaries between human, natural and divine, and the instability of identities. The historical rooms of the Borghese collection, already permeated by Ovidian references, provide an apt setting for this narrative.

• Works and artists: highlights include Correggio, Michelangelo, Titian, Rubens, Poussin, and works up to Gérôme, Rodin and Brâncuși; the exhibition also centers on Bernini’s groups such as Apollo and Daphne and Pluto and Proserpina.
• Themes: love and desire, violence and transformation, the afterlife, cosmogony, and the medieval "Ovide moralisé" tradition that shaped Renaissance mythography.
• Catalogue and partners: a trilingual catalogue (Italian, English, Dutch) with essays by Italian and Dutch scholars; graphic design by Irma Boom; in partnership with the Rijksmuseum.
• Sponsors: supported by Intesa Sanpaolo – Gallerie d'Italia and Webuild S.p.A.

Visitors will encounter metamorphosis not only as physical change but as an aesthetic and ontological category that questions relationships between time, matter and form. The dialogue between myth and art provides a rich visual repertoire of passions, conflicts and transformations.

Visitor information

• Dates: 23 June – 20 September 2026
• Venue: Galleria Borghese, Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, Rome
• Details and tickets: www.galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it

Tips for visiting: allow sufficient time to read mythological references and to appreciate the interplay between paintings and sculptures; the exhibition layout emphasizes the relationship between architecture and myth, encouraging reflective and sensory engagement.