TREASURE OF SAN GENNARO
GRACE RECEIVED
Contemporary Visions of the Ex Voto curated by Alberto Mattia Martini
April 11 – September 30, 2025
Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro
Via Duomo 149, Naples

Museum opening hours: every day from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Last admission 45 minutes before closing

After its success in Milan, the exhibition “Grace Received – Contemporary Visions of the Ex Voto” arrives in Naples on April 11, set within the extraordinary context of the Chapel and Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro, enriched for the occasion with new and significant works.

Curated by Alberto Mattia Martini and produced by D’Uva, the exhibition serves as a bridge between past and present, spirituality and contemporary art, exploring the ancient theme of the ex voto — tangible testimonies of faith, gratitude, miracles, and survival — through the eyes of 120 artists, including Mimmo Paladino, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mimmo Jodice, Antonio Biasiucci, Igor Mitoraj, and featuring the celebrated blue monochrome by Yves Klein, exceptionally on display after being donated in 1958 to the Monastery of Saint Rita of Cascia.

“In the exhibition,” says the curator, “ancient tradition merges with new languages and contemporary expressive forms. The votive offering, moving from a physical object to a symbol, becomes an emblem of the relationship with other dimensions, addressing delicate issues such as illness, death, and rebirth: a symbol that expresses universal emotions and individual narratives.”

In “Grace Received”, the artists, through various mediums and artistic approaches — from painting to sculpture — explore the concept in a contemporary context, revisiting and reinterpreting the meaning and aesthetics of this traditional genre.
The ex votos, described by Georges Didi-Huberman as “forms capable of disappearing and reappearing over time,” are objects laden with mystery and memory. With this exhibition, they return as protagonists in a contemporary light, becoming instruments of reflection on human condition, fragility, the search for meaning, and the relationship with the sacred and with destiny.

It is only fitting that the Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro — a place historically dedicated to housing ex votos and precious donations to the Patron Saint — should host an exhibition that explores the votive dimension as a bridge between the earthly and the transcendent.
The exhibition unfolds across the entire museum itinerary, from the Chapel and ancient Sacristies to the museum rooms, within a setting that has safeguarded offerings from popes, kings, and prominent figures of the Neapolitan and European aristocracy for over seven centuries, giving new, contemporary, and shared voice to the votive practice.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by D’Uva, featuring contributions by curator Alberto Mattia Martini along with texts by Mons. Vincenzo De Gregorio, Abbot of the Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, Francesco Imperiali, and Francesca Ummarino, Director of the Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro.

Starting from its symbolic value as a vehicle for exploring the divine, the ex voto also prompts deep meditation on humanity’s relationship with an imagined end, or alternatively, offers an occasion for new beginnings.

The ex voto, understood as a religious offering made in gratitude or in request for a grace, is rooted in the earliest history of humanity.
The first known examples date back to the Paleolithic era, such as the handprints found in the caves of Pech-Merle in France and the Cueva de las Manos in Patagonia. Votive practices are also documented in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where the first painted tablets — forerunners of the Christian ex voto — emerged.
Adopted by Christian tradition as a form of supplication or thanksgiving, the ex voto is typically expressed through symbolic images — often depicting parts of the human body — linked to the petitioner’s need. The very term “ex voto” comes from the Latin ex voto suscepto, meaning “in fulfillment of a vow.”

The exhibition sets up a dialogue between tradition and innovation, between the sacred and the secular, between the tangible and the transcendent.
Contemporary ex votos, while maintaining their symbolic value, shift from purely religious roots to embrace a more secular and universal perspective.

Through an immersive installation that recalls the atmosphere of places of worship — where ex votos accumulate in layers of time and symbolism — the exhibition invites visitors into a space of profound contemplation.
The artworks interact like a collective prayer, offering multiple perspectives on reality, the search for comfort, and hope.

It is a powerful and choral exhibition that renews the significance of a millennia-old practice, demonstrating how even today — in an era marked by uncertainty and disorientation — it is still possible to “receive a grace,” through the language of art.

Participating artists include:
Yves Klein, Igor Mitoraj, Guido Airoldi, Maddalena Ambrosio, Stefano Arienti, Gabriele Arruzzo, Mattia Barbieri, Mirko Baricchi, Matteo Basilè, Matteo Bergamasco, Alessandro Bergonzoni, Thomas Berra, Bertozzi&Casoni, Andrea Bianconi, Antonio Biasucci, Valentina Biasetti, Lorenzo Brivio, Nicolò Bruno, Michele Bubacco, Luca Caccioni, Chiara Calore, Anna Capolupo, Felipe Cardeña, Nicola Caredda, Linda Carrara, Valeria Carrieri, Antonio Catelani, Andrea Chiesi, Marco Cingolani, Gianluigi Colin, Giacomo Cossio, Fabrizio Cotognini, Rudy Cremonini, Nicola Cucchiaro, Vanni Cuoghi, Sabrina D’Alessandro, Aldo Damioli, Alberto De Braud, Leonida De Filippi, Francesco De Grandi, Francesco De Molfetta, Silvano De Pietri, Marta Dell’Angelo, Mario Dellavedova, Aron Demetz, Marco Demis, Pino Deodato, Nicola Di Caprio, Fulvio Di Piazza, Roberto Dolzanelli, Tamara Ferioli, Enzo Fiore, Sergio Fiorentino, Francesco Fossati, Giovanni Frangi, Maurizio Galimberti, Michelangelo Galliani, Omar Galliani, Daniele Galliano, Laura Giardino, Robert Gligorov, Giuseppe Gonella, Domenico Grenci, Ester Grossi, Franco Guerzoni, Agnese Guido, Audrey Guttman, Silvia Inselvini, Mimmo Jodice, Filippo La Vaccara, Francesco Lauretta, L’orMa, Giovanni Manfredini, Bruno Marrapodi, Franco Marrocco, Luciano Massari, Andrea Mastrovito, Marco Mazzoni, Paolo Migliazza, Enrico Minguzzi, Kazumasa Mizokami, Concetta Modica, Elena Modorati, Tomoko Nagao, Silvia Negrini, Marco Pace, Silvia Paci, Mimmo Paladino, Robert Pan, Alessandro Papetti, Paola Pezzi, Paolo Pibi, Alex Pinna, Giulia Piscitelli, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Luigi Presicce, Massimo Pulini, Pierluigi Pusole, Gherardo Quadrio Curzio, Alfredo Rapetti, Carlo Alberto Rastelli, Giotto Riva, Brigitta Rossetti, Elisa Rossi, Laboratorio Saccardi, Roxy in the Box, Nicola Samorì, Aldo Sergio, Davide Serpetti, Marta Sesana, Giuseppe Stampone, Luca Trevisani, Wainer Vaccari, Vedovamazzei, Nicola Verlato, Flaminia Veronesi, Dany Vescovi, Fabio Viale, Velasco Vitali.

“Grace Received – Contemporary Visions of the Ex Voto” will be open to the public at the Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro in Naples until September 30 and can be visited during the museum’s opening hours.
The museum ticket includes access to the exhibition.
More information and full details available at www.tesorosangennaro.it.