Following the opening remarks by the Mastella Allegrini family, the Award Jury, chaired by Stefano Baia Curioni, announced this year’s winning project. “For its exceptional scientific, curatorial, and exhibition quality, which made it an exemplary project, successfully combining academic rigor, artistic sensitivity, and educational value, the Villa Della Torre L'Arte di Mostrare l'Arte Award was awarded to Caravaggio 2025”.

Thomas Clement Salomon, director of the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica (National Galleries of Ancient Art) and curator of the exhibition, received the award. As he stated, the project was the result of a collaboration with Galleria Borghese, supported by Intesa Sanpaolo as the main sponsor. The project brought together 24 masterpieces by Michelangelo Merisi, also known as Caravaggio, from Italian and international collections, as well as private loans. This created a distinctive synergy between different museums and galleries. The exhibition was a resounding success, becoming the most visited in Palazzo Barberini's history and one of the most significant cultural events of the 2025 Jubilee.

During the award ceremony at Villa Della Torre, Thomas Clement Salomon spoke emotionally and proudly about this great achievement: “It is a source of pride to receive the ‘Villa Della Torre — L’Arte Di Mostrare L’Arte’ award, promoted by the Allegrini-Mastella family. This award provides an opportunity to reflect on a project that has had a major impact on the Gallerie Nazionali Di Arte Antica. We envisaged this undertaking with ambition, tackled it with determination, and brought it to fruition thanks to exemplary teamwork. The works exhibited together with Palazzo Barberini represent a unique heritage. Some pieces from private collections had never been exhibited to the public before, and others had not been in Rome for some time”.

The director also emphasized the value of opening places that are usually inaccessible to the public. “The visit to the Casino Boncompagni Ludovisi, where Caravaggio's only mural painting is preserved, transformed the exhibition into a story about time, memory, and the ability of places to preserve identity and meaning”, recalling the great value of the results achieved. “Over 450,000 visitors, more than 1,300 press articles 14 million views on our digital channels, and an economic impact of over € 10 million. This is concrete proof that major cultural investments generate real and widespread benefits”.

Stefano Baia Curioni, the director of Palazzo Te and president of the jury, also emphasized the importance of promoting and supporting projects of this quality: “Organizing a major exhibition today is complex and challenging in terms of resources. Today more than ever, we must remember that exhibitions should be educational and facilitate the creation of resonances that broaden the audience for culture. Therefore, value must be given to the quality of the project. A major exhibition is such when it responds to a genuine cultural need. It must enter into a relationship with the collections and the place that hosts it, bringing to light hidden elements and generating the unexpected. The unexpected generates emotion, and emotion cements memory, allowing us to become more sensitive”. 

“Culture is a collective project: Caravaggio 2025 was the best proof of this”, Salomon concluded, emphasizing a principle that is not only fully underpinned, but also authentically carried forward in the history of Villa Della Torre. The villa has been made accessible to the public thanks to the vision and commitment of the Mastella Allegrini family, who decided to restore and return it to the community in the name of a shared appreciation for beauty and collective growth.  

As Marilisa Allegrini pointed out, it is an act of great responsibility. “In many places around the world, even those very close to home, war looms, and the risks to humanity are high. In such circumstances, culture and art have always promoted dialogue and mutual understanding between peoples. When we acquired the splendid Italian Renaissance monument Villa Della Torre in 2008, we soon discovered that business can do a lot for art, just as art can bring business to life, enriching it with beauty, harmony, and balance. This award embodies all of this, and it is a project that is very important to us”.