The Royal Palace hosts "Appiani. Neoclassicism in Milan."

From September 23, 2025, to January 11, 2026, Milan pays homage to Andrea Appiani, the neoclassical painter who became Napoleon Bonaparte's favorite and a key figure in the city's art scene between the Enlightenment and the Empire. Palazzo Reale will be transformed into an international hub with over 100 works from the most important European and Italian museums: among the prominent loans are the Louvre, the Musée Carnavalet and Châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau in Paris, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Castello Sforzesco, and the Civic Museums of Brescia.

Andrea Appiani (1754-1817) was a central figure in the Italian neoclassical scene, inspired by the legacy of seventeenth-century Lombardy but also embracing the refined French elegance that dominated European culture in the aftermath of the Revolution. His career, marked by grace and rigor, encompasses historical and religious paintings, aristocratic portraits, monumental frescoes, mythological scenes, and delicate medals. His style, capable of blending balance, harmony, and atmosphere, earned him the nickname "Painter of the Graces" among his contemporaries, as well as the title of "First Painter" of the Kingdom of Italy established by Napoleon. Appiani became the symbol of an era and a refined interpreter of the cultural tensions between classicism and modernity.

The exhibition "Appiani. Neoclassicism in Milan," curated by Fernando Mazzocca, Francesco Leone, and Domenico Piraina, is part of the program of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympics, underscoring the event's international scope and the close dialogue between institutions that believed in the promotion of this great master. Each room of the Royal Palace invites the public to approach Appiani's canvases and frescoes with a fresh perspective, offering the opportunity to admire compositions such as "Juno Assisted by the Graces," from the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia, where the delicacy of the brushstrokes transforms myth into visual poetry. Appiani's mastery is also reflected in his celebrated portraits: particularly striking are those of the singer Giuseppina Grassini, an undisputed icon of neoclassical Milan, and that of Napoleon, President of the Italian Republic, where the general's gaze embellishes the canvas with charisma and power.

Appiani lived and worked in a city devoted to aesthetic rebirth: late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Milan was fueled by the inspiration of major aristocratic and religious commissions, welcoming the master's monumental art into new palaces, churches, and institutions. His official role at the court ensures that these grand historical narratives serve as the exhibition's unifying thread. Visitors can experience the transformation of Milan, devoted to neoclassical ideals and relaunching itself as an art capital beyond national borders.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are the international collaborations that make the event unique: the Louvre and the Grand Palais interact with Villa Carlotta, Brera, Brescia, and Paris in a mosaic of loans that testifies to Appiani's importance and European success. Each work becomes a piece of a larger narrative, uniting allegorical figures with great historical figures, celebrating Napoleonic Milan and the dream of a new social and artistic balance. Appiani proves himself a lucid interpreter of the ambitions and contradictions of his time, capable of conveying in his canvases an ideal of grace that transcends time and political regimes.

The exhibition also prompts reflection on the aesthetics of Milanese Neoclassicism. The rooms of the Palazzo Reale become the setting for a compelling narrative, where every compositional detail becomes a journey through symbols and atmospheres. The viewer discovers modernity in the faces of the portrayed figures, strength in their drapery, and lightness in the way light sculpts their bodies. In the background, Appiani's central role as a mediator between innovation and tradition emerges, engaging with the French avant-garde and the Italian classical world. His works are part of a narrative that speaks of power, culture, taste, and a constant search for harmony.

In Milan, Appiani's rediscovery takes on the value of a reflection on the role of art in history and society, offering a new perspective on the city's cultural life. This exhibition becomes a celebration of a luminous era, one that shaped the appearance of Milan's palaces, temples, and institutions, leaving a profound mark on the collective memory. Visitors are invited not only to observe, but to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of neoclassical Milan, amid dreams of glory and refined atmospheres, rediscovering the talent of a painter who won over emperors, artists, and intellectuals of the time.