A tribute to grace and femininity through 150 works, and a very special guest.
Rome’s autumn exhibition season opens with a truly unmissable event: a major solo exhibition dedicated to the master of Art Nouveau, Alphonse Mucha. A triumph of beauty and seduction, it unfolds in the galleries of Palazzo Bonaparte in Rome through March 8, 2026.
More than 150 works by the iconic Czech artist, Parisian by adoption and the undisputed leader of Art Nouveau’s sinuous, refined style are on view. The exhibition trail, divided into seven sections, also includes important archaeological and Renaissance pieces, masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries (including works by Giovanni Boldini and Saccaggi), as well as Art Nouveau furnishings, objects, and jewelry.
Among the many surprises this exhibition has in store is its installation concept, which offers a synesthetic experience: an enveloping blend of lights, scents, music, and chromatic effects capable of transporting visitors on a journey through time.
A distinguished guest: Botticelli’s Venus
The guest of honor is Botticelli’s Venus, one of the most celebrated Renaissance works exalting feminine beauty, exceptionally loaned by the Musei Reali – Galleria Sabauda in Turin. The piece reveals a striking throughline with Mucha’s linear, graceful yet powerful figures, underscoring how art is cyclical and timeless.
This idea emerges from the artist’s own words:
“Art cannot be new. Art is eternal, like the progress of humankind, and its function is to cast light upon the world’s path”.
Alphonse Mucha
Venus stands out against the dark backdrop like a true apparition, seeming to float in space—thanks also to the dramatic choice to frame her within a luminous arch. The effect offers viewers a moment of suspended contemplation, in an intimate, magical atmosphere.
Mucha’s Time
At the end of the nineteenth century, Belle Époque Paris was the beating heart of European modernity. In this effervescent climate, art moved out of galleries and onto the streets; Mucha’s path fits seamlessly into this spirit. More than an artist, he was a true pioneer of advertising graphics and visual communication, most notably through his celebrated posters. His designs, illustrations, and the sensual, strikingly beautiful women he drew became emblems of the city and of the era.
The scope of the Czech artist’s work was such that it sparked a fashion, an actual style that bears his name: the Mucha style. His favored themes, seasons, flowers, times of day, and sinuous lines, became motifs replicated across everyday objects such as calendars, furniture, and postcards, bringing beauty into everyone’s homes.
Seduction and the female figure through the centuries
One of Mucha’s defining traits is his focus on the feminine universe. Not only beauty, but also character, seduction, personality, and grace. A winning combination that makes his women the protagonists of a new social and cultural scene, able to assert the centrality of their role without losing their femininity.
1905 circa, Olio su tela, 240×140 cm,
Su concessione del Mic – Musei Reali, Galleria
Sabauda
Women are truly the undisputed protagonists of the exhibition, portrayed in their most varied guises—from the most innocent to the most sensual. Femme fatale, as in one of the masterpieces on display, Cesare Saccaggi’s Semiramide (1905), depicting the Assyrian queen Semiramis, the legendary founder of Babylon; and also modern, captivating women, as in Giovanni Boldini’s splendid female portraits. Finally, woman as a symbol of the seasons, the stars, and precious stones, as seen in Mucha’s own celebrated illustrations.
Mucha set in motion a way of thinking that elevated the female image, transforming it into an icon of grace and strength, and making it the undisputed protagonist of a decorative language shaped by nature, soft lines, and sensual atmospheres—capable of both reflecting and anticipating the present age.
Alphonse Mucha. A Triumph of Beauty and Seduction
8 October 2025 – 8 March 2026
Palazzo Bonaparte, Piazza Venezia
Opening hours: Monday–Thursday, 9:00–19:30 | Friday–Sunday, 9:00–21:00
Tickets: €18-22
