Poetry and Painting in the 17th Century. Giovan Battista Marino and the Marvelous Passion

The Borghese Gallery hosts the unprecedented exhibition project that, inspired by the texts of the famous 17th-century poet, creates an evocative journey through majestic Renaissance and Baroque art.

Awarded the Medal of the President of the Republic, Poetry and Painting in the 17th Century. Giovan Battista Marino and the Marvellous Passion unveils the extraordinary legacy of a man of letters, able to blend the grace and charm of poetry and the figurative arts. 

The exhibition celebrates the founder of Baroque poetry – closely linked to the artists and masterpieces of the time – and his passion for painting, investigating the relationships between the arts, power, the sacred and the profane.

Curated by Emilio Russo, Patrizia Tosini and Andrea Zezza, the exhibition path, which focuses on Baroque's golden age in painting and literature, winds through five sections: 

- Poetry and Painting in the 17th Century. Introduction to Giovan Battista Marino, which explores the relationship between poetic and figurative tradition already during the 16th century, with masterpieces by Correggio, Titian and Tintoretto;
- La Galeria and Giovan Battista Marino's Dialogue with Artists, exploring the relationship between the poet and Renaissance and Baroque art through the dialogue between paintings, sculptures and their literary transpositions, with works by Luca Cambiaso, Titian, Palma il Giovane, Pietro Paolo Rubens, Cavalier d'Arpino, Alessandro Turchi and Pietro Bernini;
- The Massacre of the Innocents, named after one of Marino's writings, is a focus on the biblical theme, depicted by large-scale works by masters such as Guido Reni, Giovanni Battista Paggi, Nicolas Poussin and Pietro Testa;
- Adonis between Sacred and Profane brings together works related to the myth of the young man loved by Venus, realised by Palma il Giovane, Scarsellino and Poussin;
- Farewell: The Apotheosis of Giovan Battista Marino and the Discovery of Nicolas Poussin, the last section of the exhibition, highlights the most relevant legacy of Marino's artistic passion, the intuition of the extraordinary talent of Nicolas Poussin, author of some works that clearly celebrate Marino's poetry.