2023 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Domenico Morelli (Naples, 1823-1901), a central personality in the process of renewal of southern painting in the second half of the 19th century, an essential reference in Italian artistic-cultural orientations. The exhibition-tribute to Domenico Morelli therefore intends to return the right tribute to his figure, his art and his genius, offering Naples the possibility of celebrating the anniversary of the birth of its greatest painter.

Nine contemporary figurative artists are called to a comparison with his production, exhibiting their paintings in the presence of the Virgin assumed into heaven among choirs of angels by Morelli, a work set in the ceiling of the Royal Chapel, creating a moment of dialogue between Ancient and Modern .

In the name of Morelli, founder of the Neapolitan School of painting, the exhibition also represents a new opportunity for comparison for contemporary figurative art, finding in Palazzo Reale, the beating heart of the city's museum and cultural life, the most suitable dimension for a rediscussion on contemporary pictorial genres and on the status of so-called "realism".