Anselm Kiefer dedicates the exhibition Le Alchimiste, conceived for Palazzo Reale, to women who contributed to the birth of modern science yet were excluded from historical narratives. The project brings together 42 large canvases in dialogue with the Sala delle Cariatidi, marked by the 1943 bombings, reinforcing themes of memory, loss, and regeneration.

The works, conceived as a single composition, intertwine myth, history, and transformation: from corroded materials, female figures emerge, restoring their voice and presence. The exhibition thus constructs a female “pantheon” of alchemists — including Caterina Sforza and Margaret Cavendish — as symbols of knowledge, care, and the overcoming of prejudice.

The installation, with mirrors and reflections, directly engages the viewer in a transformative process, while the materials (lead, ash, gold) become an alchemical metaphor for destruction and rebirth.