Running until 27 September 2026, Anselm Kiefer presents Le Alchimiste (The Alchemist) at Palazzo Reale in Milan, a monumental, site-specific installation in the Sala delle Cariatidi. Conceived for this historic, war-scarred space, the exhibition brings together over 40 large canvases, each layered and textured to evoke cycles of decay, regeneration, and transformation.

In a departure from traditional narratives of science and alchemy, Kiefer centers on women alchemists and early scientists whose contributions were often erased from history. Figures such as Caterina Sforza, Isabella Cortese, Marie Meurdrac, Maria la Giudea, Mary Anne Atwood and others appear as anchors in a constellation of works blending myth, memory, and materiality.

Kiefer’s technique is central to the alchemical themes of the show. Canvases are layered with lead, ash, straw, paint, and organic materials, creating textured surfaces that appear both fragile and elemental. Marks, inscriptions, and scorched pigments evoke historical manuscripts and alchemical texts, turning each painting into a vessel of transformation where materiality and meaning come together.

Curated by Gabriella Belli, Le Alchimiste is both a visual anthology of resistance against historical amnesia and a meditation on embodied knowledge. It invites viewers to reconsider the genealogies of scientific thought through a feminine lens, exploring questions rather than offering answers: What histories are remembered, and who decides? How does art itself function as an engine of memory?

The exhibition extends beyond the palace. A related work dedicated to Caterina Sforza is on view at Unipol Tower in Milan’s Gae Aulenti district through June 2026, a poetic reminder that the alchemical quest, for knowledge, transformation, and recognition, circulates through the city.

Le Alchimiste is both monumental and intimate: a journey for the eyes and the mind that foregrounds inquiry over closure. By confronting the forgotten, Kiefer invites viewers not simply to revise history, but to observe. Whether experienced by long-time followers of the artist or by newcomers attuned to the possibilities of art as historiography, this exhibition marks one of the most compelling cultural moments of 2026. Only in Italy.

Image: Installation views, Kiefer: The Women Alchemists, PALAZZO REALE, Milan, February 7–September 27, 2026. Artwork © ANSELM KIEFER. Photography by ELA BIALKOWSKA, OKNO STUDIO