ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

The Problem with Museum Lighting: Why Paintings Look Like Smartphones

opinion-review · 2026-04-26

Fabrizio Federici critiques contemporary museum lighting, arguing that many exhibitions now illuminate paintings with harsh, rectangular spotlights that make them resemble backlit smartphone screens rather than historical artworks. He recalls seeing Caravaggio's 'Canestra di frutta' at the Ambrosiana in Milan, where the intense light isolated the painting and made it appear fake. This lighting style has become common, even in the Caravaggio exhibition at Palazzo Barberini in Rome, where it undermines the artist's chiaroscuro. Federici advocates for historically informed lighting, ideally natural or soft artificial light, to recreate the conditions for which artworks were originally intended. He compares this to the historically informed performance movement in early music and calls for a 'Dogme of exhibitions' that rejects artificial lighting effects.

Key facts

  • Fabrizio Federici criticizes modern museum lighting that makes paintings look like backlit photos or smartphone screens.
  • He cites Caravaggio's 'Canestra di frutta' at the Ambrosiana in Milan as an example of poor lighting.
  • The painting was illuminated by a strong, rectangular spotlight that isolated it from its surroundings.
  • Between 2023 and 2024, the original was replaced by a digital copy during a loan to Asti, and Federici notes the copy was hard to distinguish due to the lighting.
  • The same lighting technique is used in the Caravaggio exhibition at Palazzo Barberini in Rome.
  • Federici argues that such lighting contradicts the dramatic chiaroscuro of Caravaggio's work.
  • He advocates for natural light or soft artificial light to recreate historical viewing conditions.
  • He proposes a 'Dogme of exhibitions' inspired by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg's Dogme 95, rejecting artificial lighting effects.

Entities

Artists

  • Caravaggio
  • Fabrizio Federici
  • Lars von Trier
  • Thomas Vinterberg

Institutions

  • Ambrosiana
  • Palazzo Barberini
  • Artribune

Locations

  • Milan
  • Italy
  • Rome
  • Asti

Sources