New museum route at Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna showcases hidden treasures

Opera Laboratori, a Tuscan museum management company, has won a four-year tender to revitalize the Genus Bononiae circuit in Bologna, which includes Palazzo Fava, San Colombano, Santa Maria della Vita, and San Giorgio in Poggiale. The new permanent exhibition at Santa Maria della Vita, inaugurated in January 2025, features works from the Fondazione Carisbo collections, including pieces by Guercino, Guido Reni, Elisabetta Sirani, and Donato Creti, spanning the late 16th to early 19th centuries. The museum also highlights the terracotta "Compianto sul Cristo Morto" by Niccolò dell'Arca, a Renaissance masterpiece, with a new multimedia room offering an audiovisual narrative. A key addition is the permanent display of the "Gioiello del Re Sole," a miniature portrait of Louis XIV by Jean Petitot, donated to Carlo Cesare Malvasia and bequeathed to the Archconfraternity of Santa Maria della Vita, previously exhibited only on September 10 each year. The project, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Bologna, coincides with the 2025 Jubilee.