Doors open from dusk to midnight, FREE ENTRANCE or, at the symbolic price, of 1 euro : is the formula of Museum nightthat comes back Saturday May 18 throughout Italy and Europe.
Thousands of institutions, including museums, monuments, art galleries and archaeological sites, are participating simultaneously in this great cultural event which has lasted for almost twenty years, with extraordinary openings, but also with guided tours and many special events.
But that's not all: May 18 is also the International Museum Daypromoted by ICOM (International Council of Museums) and celebrated throughout the world since 1977.
“Museums for education and research” is the theme chosen for 2024, to highlight the central role of cultural institutions in promoting curiosity, creativity and critical thinking, exploration and the dissemination of new ideas.
From art to science, from history to technology, museums of all kinds and Italian cities join the Day with many one-off initiatives, including tours, workshops and conferences.
READ ALSO: From Faenza to Caltagirone, the Italian ceramic cities celebrate on May 18 and 19
European Museum Night 2024: openings and events in Italy
Rome
In Rome, all the museums and archaeological sites of Rome Capital system – including the Capitoline Museums, the Ara Pacis Museum, the Markets of Trajan and the Museum of the Imperial Forums – take part in the all-nighter on May 18, with visits outside opening hours from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. (last entry at 1 a.m.), entry for 1 euro, live events and shows, published soon on the museoincomuneroma.it website.
But in the museums of Rome, Saturday evening is only the culmination of a very rich program of initiatives which begins on Friday 17 and continues until Sunday 19, offering, among other things, the opportunity to discover little-known sites and museums of the Capital. .
Like the underground complex of Saint Paul at the Regola, THE Giovanni Barracco Museum of Ancient Sculptureor a very small museum hidden in the attic of Argentine Theater.
In Rome, Museum Night also takes part Borghese Gallery, with the extraordinary opening from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the symbolic price of 1 euro.
Renovation work is currently underway at this treasure trove of masterpieces, hence some of its most admired works, like Sacred love, profane love by Titian, the Portrait of a man by Antonello da Messina and the Lady with the unicorn by Raphael, were temporarily transferred to the Palazzo Barberini.
However, all the rooms on the ground floor remain open and can be visited, with the famous paintings of Caravaggio and the sculptural masterpieces of Bernini. And until June 23 the Roman museum welcomes Diego Velázquez with Woman in the kitchen with supper at Emmausone of his first works National Gallery of Ireland.
Turin
In Turin, on the evening of May 18, a large-scale celebration will take place. Of GAM At MAOSince Madame Palace At National Cinema Museum until Galleries of Italy.
In all the city's most important museums, extended opening hours, entry for €1 (from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and activities, including a workshop on the collage technique, a guided tour dedicated to books, precious manuscripts and suggestions literary works present in the MAO collections dedicated to Asian cultures (info:fondatorinomusei.it).
The entry ticket will also be valid for the exhibitions Freedom. Turin Capital at Palazzo Madama and the large monograph dedicated to the painter Italo Cremona in progress at GAM which, as its title indicates Everything else is a deep night it is particularly suitable for the occasion.
Milan
An opportunity not to be missed in Milan: the Poldi Pezzoli Museum remains exceptionally open until 10 p.m. and allows you to visit an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to Augustinian polyptych Of Piero de la Francescagathered for the first time in Milan, 555 years after its creation.
The altarpiece was in fact dismembered and dispersed during the 16th century. The eight panels currently on display come from five museums.
The Frick Collection in New York (Saint John the Evangelist, the Crucifixion, Saint Monica and Saint Leonard), the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon (Saint Augustine), the National Gallery in London (Saint Michael the Archangel), the National Gallery of Art of Washington Sant'Apollonia) and Poldi Pezzoli, owner of the panel representing San Nicola da Tolentino.
Pavia
At Civic Museums of Pavia we start the afternoon, at 3 p.m., with a workshop for families in which everyone can participate in the creation of a collective work to repopulate the ancient Visconti Park, with animals and plants, colorful architecture and characters from the past, present and future.
In the evening, night visits (from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.) in the 14th century Visconti Castle and to 19th century photo gallery.
Brescia
From a lecture on Andrea Ferrara, one of the most famous blacksmiths in history, to a special masked ball for families organized by Count Leopardo Martinengo da Barco in his splendid palace: the Brescia Museums Foundation has put together a program for Saturday 18th for all tastes and all ages.
Designed for International Museum Day, the events all take place in the afternoon; there will be a guided tour of the Museum of the Lioness of the Risorgimento of Italy and a trip with archaeologist Francesca Pagliuso to Museum of Santa Giulia centered on the gilded bronze head of the late ancient emperor Probus, which will be the subject of a restoration by the Opificio delle Pietre dur in Florence (info: bresciamusei.com).
Venice
In Venice, visits outside opening hours Academy Galleries: from 7:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. it will also be possible to participate, for the symbolic price of 1 euro, in guided tours to discover masterpieces of Venetian and Venetian painting of which the Galleries are the main custodians.
Vicenza
In Vicenza, the European Night of Museums considers children and families as protagonists. “Operation Ghostbusters» is the title of an exciting hunt for ghosts hidden in the city's museums, open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a special entry price of €1.
Whoever finds at least three during the visit will be able to collect a special prize at Galleries of Italy – Vicenza, who also have other initiatives in store for us for Saturday evening.
Other museums participating in the event include the Jewelry Museum, the Diocesan Museum, the Palladio Museum, the Civic Museums, the Chiericati Palace Museum and the Naturalist Archaeological Museum.
Florence
In Florence, it is Duomo Opera Museum to stay up until the early morning (with Michelangelo, Donatello, Arnolfo di Cambio, Luca della Robbia and the many giants of the history of Italian art preserved here) and to open the doors free of charge to the public, from 7 p.m. at midnight.
Therefore, to enter you will not need a ticket or reservation.
His
Museum Night is celebrated in Siena Saint Mary of La Scalaformerly a hospital for pilgrims, today an imposing museum complex which extends over the Piazza del Duomo, opposite the cathedral, and brings together all of the city's past.
Its spaces also host the National Archaeological Museum and the Giuliano Briganti Library, which are also open free of charge until midnight. Guided tours are also scheduled: .santamariadellascala.com.
Pistoia
Saturday 18 Civic Museums of Pistoia (Civic Museum of Ancient Art, Museum of the Spedale del Ceppo and Museum of the 20th century and contemporary of Palazzo Fabroni with the exhibition Révox by Federico Tiezzi) entry is free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then from 9 p.m. to midnight.
To celebrate International Museum Day, guided tours of the collections of the three Civic Museums, the Fernando Melani house-workshop and the church of San Jacopo de Castellare are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Bologna
Of Civic Archaeological Museum At MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art all the Civic Museums of Bologna they offer night tours, entry costs €1 from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Five special events are also planned: a guided tour of the permanent collection and the presentation of the volume Forgotten architecture by Bianca Felicori at MAMbo; a “Morandi walk” which will stop at Casa Morandi, the Morandi Museum and Grizzana Morandi; a reading by Saverio Mazzoni entitled Giuseppe Raimondi talks about Giorgio Morandi. The man and the artist at Casa Morandi; an evening guided tour of the Museum of Memory of Ustica.
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Trento and Rovereto
Saturday May 18, on the occasion of International Museum Day, the Tuesday offers free entry to all visitors to its three sites: the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art designed by Mario Botta and the Casa Depero in Rovereto and the Galleria Civica in Trento.
