Grace / Grazia. Bruce Gilden for Raphael

The installation Grace / Grazia. Bruce Gilden for Raphael, on view at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo from 27 March to 12 July 2026, is a site-specific project specially commissioned by Fondazione Brescia Musei as a tribute to the career of Bruce Gilden (New York, 1946), a full member of the Magnum Photos agency and widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Street Photography. For the first time in Italy, Brescia dedicates a single, major composite project to the artist.

The installation is part of a broader exhibition programme, conceived in close dialogue with the artist himself, which pairs the site-specific project Grace / Grazia. Bruce Gilden for Raphael, presented at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, with the photographer’s first major monographic exhibition ever shown in Italy, A Closer Look, on display at the Santa Giulia Museum.

Curated by Denis Curti and developed in direct collaboration with the artist, the initiative is an international-scale project and one of the most significant events of the 9th edition of the Brescia Photo Festival (26–29 March 2026). It continues the Museums of Brescia’s exploration of contemporary American photographers, begun in 2023 with David LaChapelle and continued last year with Joel Meyerowitz.

The site-specific installation entitled Grace / Grazia. Bruce Gilden for Raphael, specially commissioned by Fondazione Brescia Musei for this first Italian presentation, features the photographic diptych commissioned from the pioneer of street photography Bruce Gilden (New York, 1946) to enrich the collection of the Civic Museums of Brescia. The work reinterprets the concept of “grace,” exemplified by the two works by Raphael normally on display at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, which from 29 March will be on loan to the exhibition Raphael: Sublime Poetry at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The project is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2025, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The aim is to affirm photography as a primary artistic medium of our time, capable of engaging with the great themes of art from the past, through the direct involvement of one of its most authoritative protagonists.

The tour is included either in the purchase of the Biglietto Musei  or in the purchase of the Biglietto Integrato Musei.

🎟️ Special offer! Holders of tickets to the exhibition Bruce Gilden. A Closer Look can access the installation Grace / Grazia. Bruce Gilden for Raphael for just €3.00.

Staying in Brescia is worthwhile!

For guests of HB Hotels (Hotel Vittoria, Hotel Regal, Hotel Leonessa, Hotel Master, Hotel Igea), Federalberghi (Hotel Al Poggio Verde, Hotel Ambasciatori) and Areadocks Boutique Hotel the entrance ticket is at a reduced rate upon presentation of the valid voucher issued by the hotel at the cash desk.