LUIGI SPINA

A Tribute to the Umbria of St Francis

PERUGIA | NATIONAL GALLERY OF UMBRIA
FROM 3 OCTOBER TO 18 JANUARY 2026

An event organised as part of the project Luigi Spina. Omaggio all’Umbria di San Francesco with the support of Strategia Fotografia 2024, promoted by the Directorate General of Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture

The CAMERA OSCURA project makes its way into the atelier of one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, observing it through the lens of an unquestioned master of photography.

On 3 October 2025 Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria opened, in Room 39, an exhibition of photographs by Luigi Spina as part of the project Luigi Spina. Omaggio all’Umbria di San Francesco (Luigi Spina. A Tribute to the Umbria of St Francis) supported by Strategia Fotografia 2024, promoted by the Directorate General of Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Curated by Costantino D’Orazio, Director of Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, the exhibition presents works by the famous photographer who, by immersing himself in Umbrian landscapes and urban contexts, conveyed the suspension of time, a typical feature of Franciscan places. Spina provided the possibility of experiencing a form of spirituality that has maintained its revolutionary significance even after the passing of centuries, erasing the distance between past and future in favour of a dimension of time that should be regarded as a continuous present. Through their large format, the contrasts and the black and white transparencies, and the materiality of light and shadow impressed on them by the camera, Spina’s photographs acquire an almost three-dimensional depth that stir up profound feelings.

The exhibition, incorporated into the museum’s permanent display and perfectly in tune with the works in the collection, pays homage to St Francis and will remain open until 18 January 2026. Thanks to the sensibility of the Italian Ministry of Culture, instruments have been made available in recent years to develop contemporary culture in Italy, including the competition Strategia per la Fotografia (Strategy for Photography) promoted by the directorate General of Contemporary Creativity which gave rise to this project: a tribute to the Umbria of St Francis, the eight hundredth anniversary of whose death is about to be celebrated in 2026.

The prelude to Luigi Spina’s immersion in Franciscan spirituality can be traced back to the experience of the great Italian photographer Fulvio Roiter (1926-2016), whom Spina admired and whose photo book Ombrie, terre de San François,undertaken for the Swiss publisher Guilde du Livre in 1955, represented  a starting point, or rather a reference point, for his own work. The eternal dialogue between nature and humankind that inspired the revolutionary message of St Francis unexpectedly found both in Roiter and Spina’s work two extraordinary spokesmen who, after so many centuries, succeeded in devising their own original approach to the spirituality of St Francis through the power of their photographs.

The places in the exhibition

Case Colle, Gubbio; the countryside of Casacastalda, Valfabbrica; church of Santa Maria Assunta, Caprignone; abbey of San Benedetto al Subasio; crypt of San Benedetto al Subasio; Monastery of Sant’Angelo in Panzo; provincial road SP 240; Petroia, Gubbio; Strada Fratticiola Selvatica, Monteverde; the road to Eremo delle Carceri; chapel of Santa Maria Maddalena, Eremo delle Carceri; Bosco di San Francesco, Assisi; church of Santa Maria Assunta, Benedictine abbey, Valfabbrica; regional road SP 298, Gubbio; church of San Francesco della Pace, Gubbio; Case Colle, Gubbio.

Luigi Spina

He has published over 22 photo books as part of his own work and has undertaken several photographic campaigns for institutions and museums. His published works include the following: the project about the Forum in Rome, L’Ora Incerta, Electaphoto (2014); The Buchner Boxes (2014), Le Danzatrici della Villa dei Papiri (2015), DiarioMitico (2017), Canova. Quattro tempi (2020), Sing Sing (2020) all published by 5 Continents Editions; Volti di Roma alla Centrale Montemartini, Silvana Editoriale (2019); Ritratti Rituali, Federico Motta Editore (2006); Vis à Vis, Tenerani – Spina, Gangemi editore (2024)

In 2020 he received the Photographer of the Year award from the authoritative journal Artribune.

In 2022 he was one of the finalists for the 73^rd Michetti Contemporary Art Prize and was winner of the Premio Digital Michetti.

In 2023 he was awarded the International Amedeo Maiuri prize for photography.

The book Interno Pompeiano (2023) was published by 5 international publishers: 5 Continents Editions, Milan;

J.P.Getty Los Angeles; Thames&Hudson, London; Elisabeth Sandman Verlag, Munich; La Fabrica, Madrid.

The Financial Times declared Inside Pompeii to be the best art book of 2023.

Interno Pompeiano won the Gold Medal of the MGIP Book Award 2024 (Motovun Group of International Publishers) as the best Design and Photography artbook and the Gold Medal of the MGIP Book Award 2024 as the “Best Book of the Best Books”.

He was awarded the Gold Medal of the ICMA INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MEDIA AWARD 2025 IN ART BOOKS · ART, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN.

The project Interno Pompeiano was exhibited in Australia’s leading museums.

In 2024 the Associazione Pergolesi di Santa Maria Capua Vetere awarded him the Premio Sessa.

He has exhibited his works in the follwing museums and galleries: Museo Archeologico di Napoli; Musei Capitolini, Rome; Museo MADRE, Naples; Palazzo dell’EUR, Rome; Reggia di Caserta; MACRO, Rome; Galerie Patrick Mestdagh, Brussels; MIAFAIR Milan; Postermostra, Lisbon; Kranj, Slovenia; Gallery of Fine Art Uzbekistan; MART, Rovereto; Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence; Muse Archeologico, Barcelona; Museo di Roma, Palazzo Braschi; Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome; Museo Gypsoteca Antonio Canova, Possagno (TV); Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio (PG).

His works are on display in the Museo Nazionale Romano di Palazzo Altemps, Rome; Aeroporto di Capodichino, Naples; Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples; Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Reggio Calabria; Fondazione Michetti, Francavilla al Mare (province of Chieti). Museo di Roma, Museo Centrale Montemartini, Rome; Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome; Museo Gypsoteca Antonio Canova, Possagno; Reggia di Caserta.

Perugia, National Gallery of Umbria (Corso Pietro Vannucci, 19) – Room 39

03 October – 18 January 2026

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 08.30 a.m. – 7.30 p.m. (last admittance at 6.30 p.m.)

Tickets: full price €12.00; reduced price €2.00.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF UMBRIA

Perugia, Corso Pietro Vannucci, 19

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Information to visti museum here – T +39 075 5721009 | gnu@sistemamuseo.it | gan-umb@cultura.gov.it |

Press Office, National Museums of Perugia – Umbria Regional Directorate of National Museums
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