Marymount - International School Rome
Marymount - International School Rome
Marymount - International School Rome
Castelli H1 700 x 180

Rome's Galleria Borghese opens its doors to Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst sculptures and paintings to be displayed alongside Galleria Borghese's priceless collection in Rome.

Galleria Borghese - home to masterpieces by Bernini, Canova and Caravaggio - will present the works of contemporary British artist Damien Hirst in a new exhibition opening on 8 June.

Titled Archaeology Now, the major new show will include more than 80 works from Hirst's Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable series, featuring monumental and small-scale sculptures made from bronze, rock crystal, coral and Carrara marble.

Also on display in the Rome exhibition, curated by Anna Coliva and Mario Codognato, will be Hirst's Colour Space paintings, exhibited in Italy for the first time.

Held with the support of luxury fashion house Prada, the exhibition will see Hirst's colossal sculpture, Hydra and Kali, displayed outdoors in the Secret Garden of the Uccelliera.

Galleria Borghese says the installation stems from one of Hirst’s most original projects over the last two decades: Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, exhibited for the first time in 2017 in Venice at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. 

Critics were divided when the works were first displayed in Venice, with a review in The Art Newspaper stating: "This is what art looks like when unbridled ambition meets apparently limitless financial resources."

The Daily Telegraph dismissed the shipwreck treasure show as “a spectacular, bloated folly" however the Guardian described it as “a titanic return to form” for Hirst.

Retracing his colourful career, the retrospective highlights the multimedia approach of the British artist who is known for his provocative art charged with social commentary.

Hirst shot to international fame in 1991 with The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, featuring a shark in formaldehyde, and gained new audiences in 2007 with For the Love of God, a diamond-encrusted platinum cast of a skull.

The exhibition runs from 8 June until November and reservations are obligatory. Galleria Borghese is open Tuesday-Sunday from 09.00-17.00, for full visiting details see website.


Photo by Alberto Novelli © Galleria Borghese - Ministero della Cultura e Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved DACS 2021 / SIAE 2021

General Info

Address Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5, 00197 Roma RM, Italy

View on Map

Rome's Galleria Borghese opens its doors to Damien Hirst

Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5, 00197 Roma RM, Italy

Smiling H2 - 724x450
Taco 1920 x 190
Taco 1920 x 190
Taco 1920 x 190
FiR 320 x 480 H3
Acorn High  H5  1400 x 360