The year 2026 will be the year of the Baroque: starting from February 21 until June 28, the San Domenico Museum in Forlì will host one of the most anticipated exhibitions on the international art scene, with the evocative title “The Great Theater of Ideas.”
It will be an event of extraordinary significance: over 200 works including paintings, sculptures, and architectural projects, coming from the most prestigious museums and collections in the world, will allow visitors to relive a century that radically transformed the face of European art.
The Baroque: an era of splendor and contradictions
The Baroque was born in Rome between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, during a time of strong political, social, and religious tensions. On one side, the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the new religious orders (Jesuits, Capuchins, Theatines), and on the other, a society in transformation, marked by economic crises, wars, and scientific discoveries that revolutionized the worldview.
It was in this context that a new artistic language came to life, capable of combining spirituality and theatricality, faith and spectacle, emotion and wonder. Not by chance, the term “baroque” is thought to derive from a Portuguese word used to describe an irregular pearl, a symbol of unconventional beauty.
Main features of the Baroque
- Dramatic intensity and pathos: Baroque art seeks to move, surprise, and sometimes even intimidate the viewer.
- Dynamism and movement: curved lines, open spaces, illusionistic perspectives, and play of light create a sense of energy and vitality.
- Great theatricality: art becomes a stage, transforming churches and palaces into spectacular scenographies.
- Symbolism and allegory: behind the images lie profound spiritual and political meanings.
The protagonists of the Baroque
The seventeenth century was populated by extraordinary artists, each contributing to make the Baroque one of the most fascinating periods in art history.
- Caravaggio revolutionized painting with his dramatic realism and masterful use of chiaroscuro.
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini transformed sculpture and architecture, creating theatrical and engaging works such as The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
- Francesco Borromini boldly experimented with new architectural forms, breaking the rules of classicism.
- Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the first great female painters in history, brought strong and courageous female figures to the canvas.
- Guido Reni and the Carracci, from Bologna, spread a more measured and elegant Baroque, which conquered Italian courts.
- Pieter Paul Rubens and Antoon van Dyck carried Baroque vitality to Flanders and Spain.
- Diego Velázquez and Rembrandt revealed, each in his own language, the psychological depth and truth of the human soul.
To these names we must add figures such as Luca Giordano, Salvator Rosa, Domenichino, Guercino, Simon Vouet, Claude Lorrain: a chorus of talents who made Baroque an international movement.
The exhibition in Forlì: “The Great Theater of Ideas”
The major exhibition at the San Domenico Museum will be a journey into the heart of the Baroque. Curated by the Fondazione Cassa dei Risparmi di Forlì in collaboration with the Municipality, the exhibition continues a tradition of high-level events that have already brought to the city Renaissance, twentieth-century, and Italian school masterpieces.
For 2026, the goal is ambitious: to offer the public a complete vision of Baroque culture, not only in the figurative arts, but also in its links with history, religion, politics, and even philosophy.
Among the announced loans, masterpieces are expected from prestigious institutions such as:
- Louvre and Musée Rodin in Paris
- Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique
- Museo de Arte de Ponce (Puerto Rico)
- Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg
Highlights of the exhibition
The exhibition will feature works by major figures such as Rubens, Bernini, Borromini, Guercino, Guido Reni, Artemisia Gentileschi, Velázquez, Rembrandt, and many others.
It will also put Baroque in dialogue with modern and contemporary art, thanks to works by Giorgio de Chirico and Lucio Fontana, emphasizing how the tensions and contradictions of the seventeenth century are still surprisingly relevant today.
Baroque: the language of modernity
If the Renaissance can be seen as the age of balance and harmony, the Baroque represents instead the season of creative excess, the pursuit of strong emotions, the representation of a complex and contradictory world.
As philosopher Walter Benjamin observed, the Baroque does not tell a linear story of progress, but rather a succession of crises and rebirths, much like modernity itself. This is why, by visiting this exhibition, one is not only looking at the past, but also at our present.
Forlì and Ravenna: an itinerary through art and history
A trip to Forlì for the 2026 exhibition also becomes the perfect opportunity to discover the surrounding territory. Emilia-Romagna is a land rich in art, culture, and gastronomy, and a visit here can turn into a complete experience.
Forlì: city of art and culture
In addition to the San Domenico Museums, Forlì preserves artistic treasures spanning from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Its squares, palaces, and churches tell the story of a city that has reinvented itself, becoming in the past twenty years a major cultural hub thanks to its international-level exhibitions.
Ravenna: capital of mosaics
Just a few kilometers from Forlì lies Ravenna, a city unique in the world for its artistic heritage. With its eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Basilicas of San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna offers visitors a plunge into the magnificence of Byzantine art.
Walking through its historic center, one encounters mosaics that still shine after 1,500 years, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the tomb of Dante Alighieri, and an atmosphere suspended between past and present. An unmissable destination for lovers of art and spirituality.
An invitation to travel with art. Why also visit Ravenna
The Baroque exhibition in Forlì will not only be a showcase of masterpieces: it will be a journey into the soul of an era, an opportunity to reflect on the power of images and the role of art in society.
And for those who want to make this experience even more complete, the visit can continue in Ravenna, where Byzantine mosaics ideally dialogue with Baroque theatricality, showing the extraordinary continuity of Italian art history.
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✨ If you wish to enjoy a complete experience, I will guide you through the masterpieces of the Baroque in Forlì and the treasures of Ravenna.
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