From October 2, 2026, to March 8, 2027, over 60 works will be on display in a new exhibition at the Palazzo del Governatore in Parma.
The exhibition features an exceptional loan of masterpieces to the city from the collections of the GNAMC in Rome. Across 13 rooms, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and tapestries form a striking survey of perspectives on real and idealized female figures, spanning more than two centuries of history.
The women depicted belong to different worlds and possess diverse ages, social standings, personalities, and destinies; yet, they share the ability to convey a human experience that transcends the era in which they were portrayed. They range from Madame Ginoux (Vincent van Gogh’s *L’Arlesiana*), wife of the owner of the Café de la Gare in Arles, to the Marchesa Luisa Casati—an eccentric diva and collector immortalized by Giovanni Boldini; from the wealthy Polish aristocrat Hanka Zborowska (Amedeo Modigliani’s *Woman with a Small Collar*) to Carminella, a woman of the people whose story was left in the shadows by time but not by Antonio Mancini’s brush; and from Palma Bucarelli, painted by Savinio, to the actress Elsa Martinelli as interpreted by Giosetta Fioroni. Additionally, a section of the exhibition is dedicated to artistic exploration in Italy during the interwar period.
It is a feminine imagery that both reveals and generates a multiplication of the female "Self" through other women.
