From 21 February to 28 June 2026, the San Domenico Museums in Forlì are hosting a major exhibition dedicated to the Baroque, one of the most fascinating and revolutionary periods in the history of art. The exhibition, entitled “Baroque. The Grand Theatre of Ideas”, It offers an immersive journey into the heart of the 17th century, exploring art, philosophy and the spectacle of life.
The Baroque: the art of wonder and movement
The Baroque It is the era of the restless form, of alternating rhythm and the theatricality. It is a time when art becomes emotion, drama and wonder, capable of drawing the viewer into a veritable theatre of life.
This artistic language spans the 17th century and marks the beginning of the modern era. It was during these very years that new world views: Modern science is gaining ground and the role of individual consciousness is growing.
Against a backdrop of extraordinary cultural buzz, Princes, sovereigns and major patrons promote a a profound artistic renewal involving painting, sculpture, architecture, urban planning and literature. Collectors and patrons encourage new forms of expression, helping to promote an ever-wider variety of innovative artistic genres.
An exhibition exploring Baroque culture
The exhibition is the result of an extensive study and research project and aims to offer a an overview of Baroque culture. The exhibition explores the central role played by Rome and the major European courts, the key figures who shaped this artistic language, and the patrons who fostered its development.
Particular attention is also paid to strategies for representing power, which found a medium of extraordinary visual effectiveness in the Baroque period.
From the origins of the Baroque to Caravaggio
To fully understand the roots of this artistic movement, the This journey begins with an examination of the depiction of drama in the Hellenistic period and the spatial experiments of late Mannerism.
A key milestone is the Caravaggio’s revolutionary realism, which brought art back to a more intimate and profoundly human dimension, exerting a decisive influence on European painting of the 17th century.
Rome and the spread of the Baroque across Europe
The story begins in Rome, the true heart of Baroque culture, before gradually spreading across Europe. In the course of the Sixteenth century language The Baroque style spread throughout the major European courts, adapting to different political and cultural contexts.
The exhibition documents this process through works by some of the greatest masters of the period.
The great figures of the Baroque period
The artists featured in the exhibition include some of the most significant figures in the history of art, such as:
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- Francesco Borromini
- Peter of Cortona
- Artemisia and Orazio Gentileschi
- Luca Giordano
- Guercino
- Guido Reni
- Van Dyck
- Andrea Pozzo
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Francisco de Zurbarán
Their works bear witness to the extraordinary creative vitality of an era that redefined the boundaries of European art.
The dialogue between the 17th and 20th centuries
One particularly fascinating aspect of the exhibition is the A comparison between Baroque and 20th-century art.
La The rediscovery of the Baroque in the 20th century had a profound influence on many modern artists, who have reinterpreted its expressive intensity and dynamism.
Works by Lovis Corinth, Francis Bacon, Giovanni Boldini, Giorgio de Chirico, Lucio Fontana, Giuseppe Ducrot, Fausto Melotti and Umberto Boccioni They allow us to discern a surprising dialogue between two distant eras, yet linked by the same formal and existential unease.
200 masterpieces from the world’s great museums
The exhibition brings together around 200 works from some of the world’s most prestigious museums. These include:
- The Albertina in Vienna
- The Prado Museum in Madrid
- Vatican Museums
- National Galleries of Ancient Art, Rome
- The Uffizi Galleries in Florence
- Capodimonte Museum and Royal Park in Naples
The exhibition itinerary, divided into ten thematic sections, takes place in the spaces of the San Domenico Civic Museum, taking visitors on a journey that begins with the charm of the ancient and extends to the resonance of contemporary art.
A major cultural event in 2026
“Baroque. The Grand Theatre of Ideas’ is set to be one of the most important cultural events of 2026 in Italy. A unique opportunity to rediscover a historical period in which art, thought and power intertwined, giving rise to an era of extraordinary creativity, the legacy of which continues to influence the way we view the world to this day.
