THE OLYMPIC GAMES™ – A 3000-Year History

Fondazione Luigi Rovati presents I Giochi Olimpici™. Una storia lunga tremila anni (The Olympic Games™. A 3000-year History), a major exhibition to be held on the occasion of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

To celebrate the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Fondazione Luigi Rovati presents a large exhibition dedicated to the history, protagonists, and values of athletic competitions, from ancient times to the present day.

Co-produced with the Olympic Museum and the Musée cantonal d’archéologie et d’histoire (both located in Lausanne, Switzerland), the exhibition is curated by Anne-Cécile Jaccard and Patricia Reymond (Olympic Museum), Giulio Paolucci (Fondazione Luigi Rovati) and Lionel Pernet (Musée cantonal d’archéologie et d’histoire).

The exhibition weaves together the ancient and contemporary worlds to show how the Olympic ideal has evolved through the centuries while remaining true to its founding values. From ancient Greece, where the Games were a celebration of peace and unity among the cities, to the educational vision of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, the enduring principles of peace, inclusion, excellence, and respect continue to shape and inspire the Olympic spirit today.

Organized into five thematic sections, the exhibition creates an unique relationship between artifacts from antiquity and objects from the modern Olympic Games, revealing unexpected connections between sport, art, and spirituality.

Among the most significant loans are Greek, Etruscan, and Roman artifacts from Fondazione Luigi Rovati, the Musée cantonal d’archéologie et d’histoire (Lausanne), the Musei Vaticani, the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, and other public Italian institutions.

For the first time in Italy, the Tomba delle Olimpiadi (Tomb of the Olympic Games, ca. 530-520 BC), an exceptional pictorial evidence of the Etruscan athletic and equestrian games, is being presented to the public outside the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Tarquinia. Now the Tomb is managed by Parco archeologico di Cerveteri e Tarquinia (PACT). Discovered in 1958, on the eve of the Olympics Games Rome 1960, the tomb owes its name to the sporting scenes that adorn its walls and offers a unique opportunity to admire up close its frescoes.

On loan from the Olympic Museum are medals, certificates, torches, and sports equipment belonging to some of the greatest figures in Games’ history: from Pierre de Coubertin’s boxing gloves to Usain Bolt’s shirt (Beijing 2008).

Particular attention is given to inclusivity, from the ancient and early modern Games, which were reserved for a male elite of free citizens, to the gender equality achieved at Paris 2024, in a narrative showing the Games’ progression toward ever more global and shared ideals.

The exhibition is supported by Regione Lombardia through the Cultural Olympiad initiative.

Moreover, the exhibition part of the Cultural Olympiad of Milano Cortina 2026 — a multidisciplinary, plural and widespread programme that will animate Italy to promote Olympic values through culture, heritage and sport, in the run-up to the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games which Italy will host from 6 to 22 February and from 6 to 15 March 2026 respectively.

The project is accompanied by a catalogue edited by Fondazione Luigi Rovati in collaboration with Johan & Levi.

AXA XL is the insurance partner, and Zeranta is the technical partner.

Radio Monte Carlo is the official radio partner of the exhibition.

INFORMATION

THE OLYMPIC GAMES™ - A 3,000-year history
26 November 2025 - 22 March 2026
Fondazione Luigi Rovati
Corso Venezia 52, Milan