Neapolitan Seventeenth-century painting at the Fortino

From March 27 to September 27, 2026, the newly renovated spaces of Forte Leopoldo I host the exhibition “Painting in Naples after Caravaggio. The Seventeenth Century in the De Vito Foundation Collection” is promoted by the Municipality of Forte dei Marmi and the Fondazione Villa Bertelli in collaboration with the Fondazione Giuseppe e Margaret De Vito. The exhibition is curated by art historian Nadia Bastogi.

The show traces the evolution of Neapolitan painting after the watershed moment marked by the arrival in Naples of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, whose stays between 1606-1607 and again in 1609-1610 profoundly reshaped the artistic landscape. The exhibition unfolds through the paintings collected by Giuseppe De Vito, a scholar and collector of this artistic period.

With thirty-nine outstanding works by the leading figures of the “golden century,” the exhibition outlines a chronological journey from the earliest interpreters of Caravaggesque naturalism to those artists who later reworked its language, gradually moving toward classicism and Baroque. It offers a portrait of seventeenth-century Naples through the eyes of the collector himself, whose unique figure is explored through previously unpublished documents and archival materials.

The exhibition is held under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Region of Tuscany, and the Province of Lucca, with the collaboration of the Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Provinces of Lucca and Massa Carrara. The project is supported by Mutua BVLG, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, and Live Emotion Group srl.

For further information on the exhibition, opening hours, and ticket prices, click here.