The Marino Project is a translation.

Giambattista Marino (Naples, 1569–1625) is one of the most important voices of the Italian Baroque. His literary museum, The Gallery (La Galeria, 1620), is at once a work of poetry, aesthetic theory, and art criticism. At the core of our project is the first full-length translation of this text into English—a crucial primary source for those studying early modern art. As translators, our aim is to render the Gallery’s paper walls habitable for a wide audience of readers.

The Marino Project is a virtual museum.

Marino’s Gallery contains several hundred artworks, both real and imagined: history paintings, still lifes, portraits of historical figures, sculptures, and more (an angel made of sugar!). These include examples by celebrated sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artists such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Rubens. Already in the poet’s lifetime, the contents of his museum were scattered throughout Italy and beyond. Our project brings together extant objects in a virtual companion to Marino’s text. This digital Gallery is conceived as a tool for art-history classrooms and enthusiasts.

The Marino Project is a gathering space.

For Marino and his contemporaries, art and poetry could prompt conversation, reflection, and even new creation. Our project celebrates the myriad ways viewers respond to works of art, both then and now. It also creates new opportunities for today’s readers and listeners to engage with Marino’s text—and with the objects that inspired it. To bring The Gallery to life, we will offer readings, workshops, and object-study sessions, both in-person and virtual. Many of these events will take place in museum and archival collections, recreating the imagined dialogue between poem and artwork at the heart of Marino’s Gallery.