Aurelio Amendola. Capolavori Fotografati

Aurelio Amendola returns to Palazzo Reale in Milan thirty years after his solo exhibition “Cappelle Medicee” (1995): from 16 June to 6 September 2026, the palace’s galleries will host “Aurelio Amendola. Capolavori Forografati. Burri, Vedova, Nitsch, Milan Cathedral, Bernini, Canova, Michelangelo”, an exhibition promoted by the City of Milan – Culture, produced by Palazzo Reale, in collaboration with the BUILDING Cultural Association. Through 85 large-format photographs, taken between 1976 and 2025, the exhibition celebrates the most emblematic aspects of the work of Amendola (Pistoia, 1938), a central figure in contemporary art photography, who stands out for his ability to traverse art history and transform light into narrative, with a sensitive and intense gaze.

At the heart of the exhibition is the dialogue that the photographer has managed to establish, through his lens, with some of the greatest figures in art history. From the immortal sculptures of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) and Antonio Canova (1757–1822), to the expressive power of the contemporary – represented by Alberto Burri (1915–1995), Emilio Vedova (1919–2006) and Hermann Nitsch (1938–2022) – his images reveal as much the secret life of the works as the profound identity of the artists. Alongside this research, there is a section dedicated to Milan Cathedral, featuring a series of previously unpublished photographs that explore the cathedral as a sculptural form and sculpted matter: not merely architecture, but a true sculpture traversed by light and time.

Presenting itself as a journey that connects different artistic practices and historical periods, “Aurelio Amendola. Capolavori Fotografati” constructs a powerful and multi-layered visual narrative that reinterprets art history from an intimate and personal perspective, questioning matter, gesture and memory.