Meraviglie del Grand Tour

“Wonders of the Grand Tour” is presented by the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition centres on Giovanni Paolo Panini’s “Roma Antica” (1757), shown in Milan for the first time, and conceived by Alessandra Quarto, with curators Lavinia Galli and Xavier F. Salomon.

Panini’s painting, an imagined view of ancient Rome, is placed in dialogue with the museum’s collection and recent acquisitions, including his “Pantheon Interior”, views by Van Wittel, a third-century Roman sarcophagus, a Ginori porcelain “Laocoon”, and a selection of Grand Tour fans previously unexhibited.

The exhibition culminates in “Tutti gli DÈI”, a video work by Ferzan Ozpetek, which reinterprets the Grand Tour through cinematic language. The project coincides with the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and examines the cultural legacy of travel, collection, and representation across time.