Francesca Cappelletti on Tradition, Research, and the Future of Galleria Borghese

Francesca Cappelletti, born in Rome in 1964, is a modern art historian and Caravaggio expert. She is a full professor at the University of Ferrara and scientific director of the Fondazione Ermitage Italia. Since 2020, she has directed the Galleria Borghese. In an interview, she cites her elementary school teacher Maria Cutini as an inspiration and defines her guiding principles for the museum as research, conversation, and generosity. Her most representative project is 'Les bas-fonds du baroque – I bassifondi del barocco', developed with Annick Lemoine from 2013–2014, which reinterpreted post-Caravaggio Rome and the presence of young foreign artists. She emphasizes the Genius Loci of Rome as an inescapable starting point, exemplified by the exhibition 'Meraviglia senza tempo' on stone painting, curated with Patrizia Cavazzini. Cappelletti believes tradition must have an active function, referencing Baxandall, and that as a scholar she studies the past but as a director she plans for tomorrow. She advises young people to study. Regarding the sacred, she calls the question 'useless', asserting the sacred is tied to the human condition and may shift geographically rather than historically. She envisions the future guided by three ideas: research, conversation, and generosity. The interview is part of the 'Futuro Antico' series by Ludovico Pratesi.