The installation brings into dialogue two statues of extraordinary beauty and elegance from ancient Roman art: the Winged Victory of Brescia and the Idolino of Pesaro from the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, in a new setting created by Francesco Vezzoli under the supervision of Donatien Grau, Advisor to the Presidency of the Louvre for contemporary programs.

The project marks the collaboration between the Brescia Museums Foundation and the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, which, from December 11, 2025, to April 9, 2026, hosts a twin exhibition titled Icons of Power and Beauty, featuring three bronze heads of Roman emperors from the Brescia Collections, in dialogue with materials from the Medici collections.

Ancient sculpture never ceases to amaze. The eye of the contemporary scholar, refined by research conducted over the centuries, is increasingly ready to provide a historical and critical reading of the statuary artifacts created in the Greek-Hellenistic context and their natural Roman translation, which can combine archaeology, art history, and social and cultural aspects in a tight dialogue.

The installation, titled Victoria Mater. The Idol and the Icon, scheduled at the archaeological park of Roman Brescia, inside the Capitolium, from December 4, 2025, to April 12, 2026, moves in this direction, proposing a dialectical comparison between two bronzes of extraordinary beauty and elegance, but perhaps even more of profound meaning and content, engaging against the backdrop created by one of the most recognized and appreciated Italian artists internationally.

In continuity with the enhancement and redevelopment projects of the archaeological area carried out in recent years and in line with the cultural strategy of a constant and active contamination between ancient and contemporary, theBrescia Museums Foundation has indeed entrusted Francesco Vezzoli with the task of creating a new installation, curated by Donatien Grau, Advisor to the Presidency of the Louvre for contemporary programs, that brings into dialogue the Winged Victory, one of the most important works of Roman art for composition, material, and preservation, and the Idolino of Pesaro, a refined example of classical craftsmanship from the National Archaeological Museum of Florence.