iCapitoline MuseumsCampidoglio
Il non finito: fra poetica e tecnica esecutiva
A Pinacoteca display using scientific imaging to reveal the creative process behind unfinished paintings by artists such as Palma il Vecchio, Guido Reni and Garofalo.
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Beside Palma il Vecchio's Christ and the Adulteress, a screen slowly dissolves from the painting into an infrared image, then a radiograph. Underneath, Palma changed the adulteress's gaze, her hair and the position of Christ's hand.
About fifteen paintings from the Pinacoteca's own collection hang by artist: Garofalo's two Circumcisions, Palma, then the largest group, Guido Reni's. Imaging of Reni's Anima beata (1640-1642) showed changes to its body, legs, arms, wings and drapery, and a match with a drawing for a Crucifix. Reni revised this angel over and over and still never finished it, so your unsent draft to the condominio WhatsApp group is in good company. Installations at the entrance explain the methods: infrared reflectography, radiography, UV fluorescence and MA-XRF.
It's a short display, included in the Capitoline ticket (€15, free for Rome residents with ID). The museum is open daily 9:30 to 19:30, and the show now runs to 4 January 2027.
Editor's pick
A Pinacoteca display that uses scientific imaging to show the working process behind unfinished paintings by Palma il Vecchio, Guido Reni and Garofalo. Some comfort if your own unfinished projects fill a drawer.
Look for
Palma il Vecchio, Christ and the Adulteress
Digital frames dissolve between the visible painting, the reflectogram and the radiograph, showing the reworked gaze, hair and hand.
Reni's Anima beata
Radiography and reflectography show the figure's legs, arms, wings and drapery being revised; a 3D model of it is made for visually impaired visitors.
Garofalo's two Circumcisions
Screens show photographs of the preparatory drawing, with one version lent from the Galleria Cantore in Modena.
Good for
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
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Image credits
8
- Il non finito: fra poetica e tecnica esecutivaCourtesy of Capitoline Museums
- Marina Bindella. CosmografieCourtesy of Museo Carlo Bilotti
- AEGYPTUS. Dal Nilo al Mediterraneo. Oasi e deserto in epoca romanaCourtesy of National Roman Museum - Palazzo Massimo
- Le Litanie della Vergine di Mario Deluigi. Dialogue between the Sacred and AbstractionCourtesy of Vatican Museums
- Capitoline MuseumsTournasol7 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Galleria ColonnaLalupa, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Galleria Doria PamphiljKrzysztof Golik, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- PantheonRoberta Dragan, CC BY-SA 2.5