Wonders of the Grand Tour

The Poldi Pezzoli Museum presents Wonders of the Grand Tour, a major exhibition organized with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The exceptional protagonist is the painting Roma Antica by Giovanni Paolo Panini, for the first time in Milan, in dialogue with “Tutti gli DÈI” by Ferzan Ozpetek.

On the occasion of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum presents Wonders of the Grand Tour, an exhibition created in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The protagonist of the exhibition is Giovanni Paolo Panini’s masterpiece Roma Antica (1757), a spectacular imaginary view of the ruins of Rome, in dialogue with the museum’s collections and important new acquisitions: Panini’s Pantheon Interior, Van Wittel’s views, a 3rd-century Roman sarcophagus, a Ginori porcelain Laocoon, and a selection of Grand Tour fans never exhibited before.

This extraordinary tour culminates in a remarkable video artwork “Tutti gli DÈI”, made especially by the award-winning filmmaker Ferzan Ozpetek, who offers the public a Grand tour through time with the powerful language of cinematography and his distinctive artistic capacity.

Ideated by
Alessandra Quarto

Curated by

Lavinia Galli, Museo Poldi Pezzoli

Xavier F. Salomon, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

Organized by
Federica Manoli and Arianna Pace

Giovanni Paolo Panini, painter and architect of the Eighteenth century, is celebrated for his scenographic views of ancient and modern Rome. His works combine perspective precision, architectural balance and theatrical flair, transforming the Eternal City into an ideal stage. Through his vision, Panini celebrates the greatness of Rome as a symbol of timeless art and civilisation.

The work arriving from the MET dates back to 1757 and is one of the most famous examples of “metapainting” in which the painter invents a sumptuous imaginary gallery displaying more than fifty of his paintings and views of the ruins of Ancient Rome, the genre that had made him famous. The scene is populated by recognisable statues and monuments from antiquity, in which various characters move, including the artist himself and the patron of the painting, the count of Stainville, French ambassador in Rome in those years. 

The exhibition is conceived as a veritable tour that will start from the loaned painting and continue through the museum’s rooms, including some precious works from the Poldi Pezzoli collection, retracing the collecting practice that was in vogue from the end of the 16th century, which introduced the English, Germans, Scandinavians and even Americans to the art and culture of France and Italy for the next 300 years. 

As part of the itinerary visitors encounter the exquisite Pantheon Interior, by the same author (dated 1743), which the Museum acquired in 2024, thanks to a donation by Giovanna Zanuso. The donation has been an important opportunity for the city of Milan, as this is the first work by Giovanni Paolo Panini to be on display in any of the public museums of the city.

The MET canvas, which was originally accompanied by a pendant work dedicated to Modern Rome, gives visitors the opportunity to discover two new museum acquisitions, received as a long-term loan from the Peloso family, now displayed on either side of the Pantheon Interior. These are two previously unseen views by Gaspar Van Wittel, father of vedutismo, Panoramic View of Rome from Villa Medici and Panoramic View of Rome from Trinità dei Monti. These views of modern Rome, like those of ancient Rome, were sought-after souvenirs for wealthy travellers on the Grand Tour. 

The tour continues with the Roman sarcophagus from the 3rd century AD, recently restored, and with the famous sculpture of the Laocoon and his sons, in the Vatican Museums, here presented in a reproduction made by Ginori di Doccia, manufactured in hard porcelain in 1749.

Furthermore, the exhibition offers the opportunity to display for the first time the collection of Grand Tour fans, which arrived at the museum in 2005 as a bequest from the collector Carlo Borgomaneri. These refined souvenirs for travelling ladies are also decorated with monuments and ruins of the ancient Rome and Naples, the archaeological sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii, which had just been brought to light, and the temples of Paestum, an irresistible attraction for visitors and artists.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, has organised a rich programme of events, conversations of the Grand Tour curated by Lavinia Galli, featuring distinguished experts who will recount the journey, the places and characters, the music, the souvenirs, and the first travel postcards. These meetings will be held from February 12^th to May 4^th, 2026:

Thursday, February 12, 2026
Il Grand Tour Immaginario di Gian Paolo Panini
Xavier F. Salomon
Direttore del Museo Calouste Gulbenkian di Lisbona

Thursday, February 26
Musica per i nostri occhi! Il Grand Tour dei musicisti da Mozart a Mendelssohn
Lezione concerto del musicologo Fabio Sartorelli

Thursday, March 5
Grand Tour: luoghi, personaggi e opere di una grande tradizione culturale
Alessandro Morandotti
Professore di Storia dell’Arte Moderna, Presidente del Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Storia dell’Arte, Dipartimento di Studi Storici Università di Torino

Thursday, March 19
Souvenir d’Italie. Grandi ritratti e ampie vedute (ma anche porcellane, modellini e ventagli)
Adriano Aymonino
Director of Undergraduate Programmes and Senior Lecturer, Department of History and History of Art, University of Buckingham

Monday, April 13
Il viaggio, che fatica! I racconti di viaggio: itinerari, soste, incontri, incidenti e assalti di briganti
Marco Carminati
Giornalista professionista e critico d’arte, già responsabile delle pagine d’arte dell’inserto culturale de “Il Sole 24 Ore”

Wednesday, April 29
“L’essenza dell’arte”: gesso o marmo?
Salvatore Settis
Archeologo e storico dell’arte. Già direttore della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.

Monday, May 4
Prima delle cartoline. La fotografia turistica di paesaggio nell’ottocento
Muriel Prandato e Giorgio van Straten
Esperta di fotografia e curatrice; Presidente della Fondazione Alinari per la Fotografia