Caravaggio and the 20th Century

Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti

A fascinating exhibition exploring the life and times of a couple who brought together the artists and thinkers that shaped 20th century Italian culture.

27 March – 20 July 2025

The exhibits The sections The photographs Longhi e Banti Hours and Tickets Hot to get there Activities in the exhibition

A new exhibition in Villa Bardini allows visitors to admire major masterpieces and previously unpublished material associated with the figures of art historian Roberto Longhi and writer and translator Anna Banti, who “revolutionised” art history with the rediscovery of Caravaggio and Italian art of the 17th century.

The exhibits

The exhibition showcases such masterpieces as Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by a Lizard, Jusepe de Ribera’s Apostles and a moving sequence of ten small Morandis created by the Bologna-born artist and gifted to Roberto Longhi and Anna Banti on various different occasions in the course of their friendship.

The photographs

The photographs on display in the exhibition, many of which have never been shown in public before now, recount the life of Roberto Longhi and Anna Banti. This rare and fascinating testimony also helps to reconstruct their network of relations and friendships with leading artists and figures of 20th century culture.

The sections

The exhibition is divided into twelve sections, ranging from Longhi as collector, the man who discovered Caravaggio, to sections on Longhi’s relations with the cinema and teaching. One room is devoted to Anna Banti as art historian, writer and translator who deserves the credit for rediscovering the story of Artemisia, accompanied by a selection of the large number of drawings that Roberto Longhi made of her and by a series of photographs portraying them in the rooms of Villa Il Tasso.

The Longhis’ 20th century works of art showcased in the exhibition reflect their ties with such artists as Carlo Carrà, Renato Guttuso, Filippo de Pisis and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Naturally, a section also explores their friendship with Giorgio Morandi, whom Longhi called “one of Italy’s best living painters”. The exhibition also includes a Silent Room where visitors can rest their eyes and their minds after exposure to the charged atmospheres and stimuli offered by the exhibition.

Roberto Longhi e Anna Banti

Marrying in 1924, in the course of the 20th century they stood together at the heart of a tight network of relations involving the leading figures of Italian culture. They lived in Florence from 1939, at Villa Il Tasso in Via Benedetto Fortini, below the hill of Santa Margherita a Montici. There, they became an enduring focal point for thinkers and artists, helping to turn the city into a cultural hub emanating ideas and thoughts that permeated the last century not only in Italy but also abroad.

Art history was “revolutionised” in the rooms of Villa Il Tasso with the rediscovery of Italian art of the 17th century, thanks to Longhi’s work on Caravaggio and others, and to the work of Lucia Lopresti, who chose the pseudonym Anna Banti, on Artemisia. Longhi devoted a memorable exhibition to Caravaggio at the Palazzo Reale in Milan in 1951, shining the spotlight on a painter who had been all but forgotten. The exhibition proved a historic success, attracting over 400,000 visitors.

Both were committed equally to research and to popularisation. With them, art history left the close confines of expert circles and became a social phenomenon. Both were familiar with popular weeklies, television, radio… Visitors to the exhibition will be able to observe Longhi’s skill as a populariser in two documentaries, one on Carpaccio, the other on Carrà.

Both invested in young people, and this is still the mission today of the Fondazione Longhi that they established in Villa Il Tasso in Florence, where generations of art historians, for whom Roberto Longhi is still an ideal, a beacon, have trained.

Activities inside the exhibition

Free guided tours for adults holding a ticket to the exhibition. Every Saturday at 5.00 pm. Participation is free of charge, while places last. Rervations are not required.
For exclusive guided tours, book your visit a week earlier, by calling our info service on +39.055.29.89.816

Activities outside the exhibition

Starting in May, guided tours will be available of the Fondazione Roberto Longhi’s premises at Villa Il Tasso in Florence, containing artworks not on display in the exhibition, for anyone holding a ticket to the exhibition. For further information, see the website: fondazionelonghi.it

The garden can be visited by purchasing a separate ticket.
Visit the Schedules and Tickets section for information on prices and opening hours.

How to get there

Main Entrance:
Costa San Giorgio 2, Firenze

Secondary Entrance:
Via dei Bardi 1 rosso, Firenze

Notice: The Forte Belvedere parking lot is temporarily closed due to renovation and upgrade works being carried out by the Municipality of Florence.

For those arriving by car, it is preferable to use the entrance at Costa San Giorgio 2, setting the navigator for Forte Belvedere, where free parking is available. From there, it’s just a short walk to the Villa, following the signs provided.

For people with disabilities, access is possible via a ramp at the vehicular entrance of Costa San Giorgio n°4. Please announce your arrival to the Ticket Office at +39 055 2638599.

For more details

Entrance is not allowed for animals, even if on a leash.

For service animals, read here

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