One of the most prolific and versatile Italian artists of the XX century, the work of Duilio Cambellotti was often inspired by historical events, mythology, heroic figures, and ancient traditions.
As such, the Castel Sant'Angelo is a perfect location to host an exhibition of his work.
To mark the 150th anniversary of Cambellotti's birth, the Castel Sant Angelo is honoring his memory by reopening to the public the rooms that the artist decorated exactly a century ago.
After an extensive work of painstaking renovation, the frescoes created within 1925 - 1926 are alive again in all the fresh vibrancy of their colors.
As part of this reopening, the exhibition "Duilio Cambellotti: Tutto Diventa Forma" infuses a new breath of life to Cambellotti's body of work, by showcasing the great master's works and inspirations in the rooms that once hosted the flags and standards of the disbanded Italian regiments after the Great War.
Located at the topmost rooms of the Castel, the exhibition is divided into 4 rooms, each one with a distinct topic: A Grammar of Form, Constantinople and Beyond, Dress the Home, Inhabit Fashion, and Weapons as Decoration.
The first room serves as an introduction for the visitor, showcasing a Three-horse-head bronze by Cambellotti, the anniversary poster that he designed for the 50th anniversary of the Italian unification, the dress his wife wore for this celebratory ceremony held at Castel Sant Angelo, and the desk of Marshall Armando Diaz, along a small bronze by Ettore Ximenes.
While this room portrays little of Cambellotti's work, as one ascends the short staircase to the Salle delle Colonne, one is instantly immersed in his universe.
As soon as one enters the ample room, one is surrounded by the dense foliage of the ceiling frescoes and surrounding sculptures (intricate allegories combining eagles, horses, drapery, and weapons) which, along the ornated columns and stained-glass windows, bestow a fairy-like dimension to the hall.
This particular space has been chosen to display Cambellotti's collection of Oriental textiles, from which he drew countless inspiration for his own designs.
More than nineteen textile samples and items from his personal collection - such as the embroidered child bodice acquired in Constantinople in 1898 - are on display.
In addition, we can appreciate Cambellotti's original sketches for textile designs and for the ceiling fresco adorning the hall.
Texts in Italian and English detail Cambellotti's trip to Constantinople as a young man (an event that he remembered for the rest of his life), as well as his influence in the home decor and fashions of Romans in the 1930s.
Here we can also find a maquette created for the stage design of an unidentified tragedy, made entirely in hand painted wood, which further showcases Cambelloti's breadth of work and his expertise to work in a wide range of materials.
The third room, the Sala della Cavalleria, is fittingly dedicated to one of Cambellotti's passions and a main source of inspiration: horses.
An audio fragment of Cambellotti's autobiography, preceded by the enveloping sound of galloping marshland horses, greet the audience entering the room, instantly immersing them in a world where this noble animal is king.
The stunning fresco on the ceiling is an explosion of jubilant banners against the blue sky, framed by groups of horse heads (protomes) which seem to reach out at our meet in their cavalcade.
A full-size reproduction of the equine group is on display for visitors -especially those visually impaired- to perceive the decoration more closely and "see" the figures through touch.
Following this theme of jubilation, flags, and horses, the walls in this room display Cambellotti's original sketches and color facsimiles of the illustrations created for the book "Il Palio di Siena" (1932).
An original color sketch of Cambellotti's ceiling fresco allows us to admire more in detail the complexity of the design.
Cambellotti's bronze "Young Foal" (1918-1919) makes a suitable counterpoint to the graphic work with its graceful physicality.
The adjacent room, the Sala dei reparti d'asalto, was dedicated to the elite assault troops for close combat (Arditi) during the First World War.
Cambellotti decorated this hall with a ceiling fresco depicting the flags and standards of the regiment, and he also included stucco decorations in which he represented an allegory of combat and speed, alluding to the skills of the Arditi on the battlefield.
As in the previous room, a life-size reproduction of this stucco is also on display for visitors to appreciate better the finer details, or to "see" it through their touch.
In a room dedicated to weapons, a war-inspired artwork finds a suitable space for display.
A decade after Cambellotti finished the decorations at Castel Sant Angelo, director Luis Tenker commissioned him to design the poster for his film "I Condottieri" (1939), and Cambellotti returned to the Castel to study weapons and armors.
The original sketch made by Cambellotti is displayed on the opposite wall of the final printed poster. In between these, an original photography of Cambellotti posing as Alberico da Barbiano (the hero of the film) serves as a unifying point.
The picture was probably used by the artist as visual reference for his final artwork, but it's also a nod to another of Cambellotti's many different artistic mediums of expression: photography.
Although, due to their location, these rooms are rather inaccessible for visitors with reduced mobility, special effort has been made to make the exhibition accessible to audiences with visual impairments, which includes all the texts reproduced in braille, and a surrounding aural experience, with an audio extract of Cambellotti's autobiography.
All the artwork descriptions are displayed in Italian and English, and the audio is also transcribed in English.
More than the title of an exhibition, "Tutto Diventa Forma" (Everything becomes form) could very well be Cambelotti's motto for his artistic process, in which memories, sounds, experiences, emotions, ideas and reflections - everything acquired a shape and finally ended up becoming art.
For those not familiar with Duilio Cambellotti's impressive body of work, this exhibition is a good introduction to discover and enjoy the art of one of Italy's most versatile and influential artists.
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Event: Cambellotti: Tutto diventa forma - Tessili e decorazione tra visione e materia.
Location: Castel Sant'Angelo.
Address: Lungotevere Castello, 50.
Dates: May 20th - September 6th, 2026
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday. 9:00 am - 7:30 pm
Cost: General entry - € 16,00 - allows access to all the premises. Concessions available.
Virtual Tour: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=z6xyadxUHyU
More information: https://direzionemuseiroma.cultura.gov.it/en/cambellotti-tutto-diventa-forma/
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