Rome exhibition explores angels through centuries of art

ROME, May 15 (EFE).— Capitoline Museums opened on Friday the exhibition “Angels: Messengers, Guardians and Wanderers", exploring the evolution of angelic figures in art from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to contemporary works.

The exhibition, running until Nov 1, 2026, features religious, symbolic and abstract representations of angels, tracing their transformation from divine messengers to deeply human and vulnerable figures.

According to co-curators Viviana Vannucci and Massimo Rossi, the exhibition also serves as a tribute to Pope Francis, who often described angels as bridges between heaven and earth. (Camera: DANIEL CÁCERES).

FOOTAGE OF THE EXHIBITION “ANGELS: MESSENGERS, GUARDIANS AND WANDERERS" IN ROME, ITALY.

SOUNDBITE AND TRANSLATION:

1.VIVIANA VANNUCCI, CO-CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION

- All that remains of angels is the archetype, that is, the symbolic meaning of what they represent, and no longer the naturalistic depiction as handed down to us by the history of ancient art.

- The image of the angel will become a multifaceted, multiform and indefinable figure; it will become a symbol, a sign, an idea, a memory of what once was.

- This is a project conceived in memory of Pope Francis, a year after his passing, and because he, in his interviews, often referred to the figure of the angel, identifying it in a way as a bridge between heaven and earth, and that is in part what angels are: bridge figures connecting the visible with the invisible.

2.- MASSIMO ROSSI, CO-CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION

- The lenders who have taken part are always among the most prestigious in the region.

- These include the Uffizi Gallery, for example, in Florence; the Accademia Gallery; the Accademia Reale di Torino; and the Capodimonte Museum in Naples; and then there are works that are particularly difficult to include in the exhibition because they are immovable, that is to say, inaccessible to the general public. This is the case, for example, with the church of San Rufo, with this extraordinary painting, ‘The Guardian Angel'; further on there is ‘Lo Spadarino'; and then many others, such as the Barberini Museum or the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Rome. Works which, how shall I put it, I would like to describe as an extraordinary unicum and which, at times, prove difficult to bring together.