Overview
- The exhibition runs from 7 February to 27 September 2026 at Palazzo Reale’s Sala delle Cariatidi in Milan.
- Kiefer depicts overlooked women linked to alchemy and early science across 42 large canvases, including Caterina Sforza, Isabella Cortese, Maria the Jewess, Cleopatra, Margaret Cavendish, and others.
- The works are arranged as paraventi to engage directly with the bomb-damaged architecture, shifting the viewing experience into a walk-through environment.
- Material processes are central to the project, using lead, ash, earth, straw, sand, metal wire, electrolysis, and combustion to make transformation literal.
- Kiefer attended press events in Milan, said he is not a feminist, plans a mid-April public talk at Teatro Dal Verme, and organizers credit production by Palazzo Reale and Marsilio Arte with support from Gagosian, Lia Rumma, Unipol, and Banca Ifis.