Milano The 2025 Christmas Exhibition opens at Palazzo Marino: the Monte San Martino Polyptych by the Crivelli brothers is on display.

From December 3 to January 11, 2026 the great one is back Christmas Exhibition at Palazzo Marino, one of the most eagerly awaited cultural events for Milanese residents and visitors.

The traditional exhibition, set up in the suggestive Alessi room, offers a unique opportunity this year: to admire the Polyptych of Monte San Martino di Carlo and Vittore Crivelli, one of the most important masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.

The polyptych, dated around the 1490, is composed by ten tables and from a predella with Christ blessing among the apostles.

The core of the work is the Virgin and Child, an image that recalls the Christmas Mystery and conveys intense spirituality. The work, rarely moved from its original location in the church of San Martino Vescovo (Macerata), is exceptionally reassembled and presented to the public.

An extraordinary cultural event

The Councilor for Culture Tommaso Sacchi He calls the exhibition "a gift to the city," emphasizing the rarity of the Crivellis' work and the value of its full display in the Sala Alessi. The initiative is also part of the program “Christmas in the Villages”, dedicated to the rediscovery of artistic treasures in the most peripheral neighborhoods of Milano.

Intesa Sanpaolo, a historic partner of the initiative, reiterates through the president emeritus John Bazoli the cultural value of the event and its contribution to the Milanese exhibition landscape, already enriched by the exhibitions dedicated to Neoclassicism at the Palazzo Reale and the Gallerie d'Italia.

Per Rinascente, as explained by the Managing Director Mariella Elia, the collaboration represents a commitment to the valorization of culture and aesthetic experience, a reflection of the “Keep It Beautiful” manifesto.

An immersive and scenographic installation

The exhibition project, conceived by the architect Corrado Anselmi, provides a path divided into two stages:

1. An immersive experience Initially, through a luminous structure that offers high-definition images of the work's details. This semi-dark path introduces the main iconographic themes and leads the visitor through a slow and thoughtful reading.

2. The complete vision of the Polyptych, placed in a large niche with diffused lighting that recalls the atmosphere of the original chapel. The contrast between the analytical observation and the final overall view offers a moment of synthesis and a strong emotional impact.

The exhibition is curated by John Morale e Marcello Smarrelli, and is included in the program of theCultural Olympiad of Milano Curtain 2026.

The Crivelli brothers and their connection with Milano

Originally from Venice, Carlo and Vittore Crivelli They worked mainly in the Marche region, creating numerous gilded polyptychs now held in Italian and international museums. The Monte San Martino Polyptych is the only documented work in which they both collaborated.

Milano maintains a strong link with Carlo Crivelli, thanks also to the transfers of works that took place in the Napoleonic era: several tables are present today at the Pinacoteca di Brera, Castello Sforzesco and Museo Poldi Pezzoli.

The exhibition is Admission is free.

Art historians coordinated by Civita will accompany the public with Free guided tours, available every day to explore the Crivellis' pictorial language and the historical context.

"Christmas in the Villages": art itineraries throughout the city

Parallel to the exhibition at Palazzo Marino, the exhibition also returns “Christmas in the Villages”, the initiative that enhances 19 historical-artistic sites distributed in the nine Municipalities, with free visits from 13 December to 4 January.

The program includes: historic villages such as Figino, Monluè and Trenno; medieval and Renaissance churches and abbeys; symbolic sites saved by the citizens, such as Santa Maria alla Fonte (Red Church) e San Protaso al Lorenteggio; masterpieces of twentieth-century architecture and painting; places of great historical value such as the Certosa di Garegnano, Clairvaux, San Cristoforo on the Naviglio e Saint Mary White of Mercy.

The complete calendar and booking methods are available on the official channels of the Municipality of Milano and the Association of Ancient Milanese Villages.

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