Artists

Anselm Kiefer

Press release

Le Alchimiste, the new monumental exhibition by Anselm Kiefer, one of the most influential contemporary artists, is part of the cultural programme of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Curated by art historian Gabriella Belli, the exhibition will be presented in the Sala delle Cariatidi at Palazzo Reale from 7 February to 27 September 2026.

The Alchemists originates from a project initiated in 2023 and features more than forty large-scale canvases, conceived specifically to engage in dialogue with the dramatic beauty of this space, marked by the bombing of 1943.

Central to the exhibition is the connection with Milan, the city where Caterina Sforza spent her youth. A scientist and military leader, she was the author of a rare manuscript containing more than 400 recipes, ranging from medicinal remedies to alchemical formulas. Alongside her, Kiefer summons a constellation of female figures, both renowned and forgotten, from Isabella Cortese and Maria the Jewess to Marie Meudrac, Rebecca Vaughan, and Mary Anne Atwood. Through his material and symbolic painting, the artist restores faces and bodies erased by history, acknowledging the alchemists’ crucial role in the emergence of modern scientific thought.

From his earliest works in the early 1970s, Kiefer has explored the creative and redemptive powers of women, here translated into a feminine pantheon that weaves together myth, memory, and regeneration.

The exhibition catalogue is published by Marsilio Arte.

An exhibition promoted by the City of Milan – Culture Department, produced by Palazzo Reale and Marsilio Arte.

With the support of Gagosian and Galleria Lia Rumma.

With the support of Main Sponsors Unipol and Banca Ifis.

Curated by Gabriella Belli.