milano cortina 2026 posters hand-painted by italian artists
The Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and Triennale Milano unveil the official posters of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, hand-painted by ten young Italian artists. In collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the project, led by Damiano Gullì, taps ten artists under the age of 40 to interpret the Games through Italian contemporary art, somehow a continuation of the 2023 exhibition Pittura Italiana Oggi (Italian Painting Today). The five Olympic Art Posters were painted by Beatrice Alici, Martina Cassatella, Giorgia Garzilli, Maddalena Tesser, and Flaminia Veronesi, while the five Paralympic Art Posters were created by Roberto de Pinto, Andrea Fontanari, Aronne Pleuteri, Clara Woods, and Giulia Mangoni.
The art posters have represented the cultural significance of the Games since 1972, with artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, and Eduardo Chillida presenting theirs in the previous editions. After the unveiling at Triennale Milano on June 18th, 2025, the ten original art posters of the Milano Cortina 2026 remain on site in the newly renovated Piano Parco Galleries until March 15th, 2026, alongside the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games torches, which were previously unveiled in April 2025. The foundation adds that in the coming months, the team and Triennale Milano, plans to announce a calendar of events focusing on sport, art, and society.
2026 by Giorgia Garzilli | all images courtesy of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026
The artworks depicting the Olympic winter games
Each of the posters has its own meaning, referring both to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of Milano Cortina 2026 as well as the Italian scene and culture. For Giorgia Garzilli, it’s the pleasure of gelato as she stacks up the five circular rings on a cone, a reminder to the athletes and sports enthusiasts to have fun while competing. The mountains around Italy appear as the backdrop of Beatrice Alici’s art poster, hinting at the Games as a mythical stage. Here, the athletes present the physical effort in their respective sports, all the while suspended in space and a dreamlike scenery. Nature is also the focus of Maddalena Tesser’s vibrant artwork, alongside the splash of colors. For the artist, the shades of blue, black, red, yellow, and green against the white canvas come together to form a landscape inspired by the Dolomites and a figure of a woman dreaming.
Her hair falls, creating the shape of a piste, which circles back to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of Milano Cortina 2026. Dreaming is also a central theme in Flaminia Veronesi’s art poster, where a woman daydreams while immersed in colorful soap bubbles depicting the Olympic rings. Figures appear in their athletic stances, and in one bubble, there’s an image of a hybrid flying dragon, which is a cross between the biscione, or the symbol of Milan, and the Dolomites of the Milano Cortina 2026. Then comes the fiery art poster of Martina Cassatella, where two intertwined hands merge into a flame, evoking the Olympic torch. For the artist, fire is an element of renewal and transformation, of a driving energy filtering through the spirits of the athletes as they play their sports.
Silver Peaks by Beatrice Alici
Posters of the Paralympic games at milano cortina 2026
Away from nature and dreams, the art posters of the Milano Cortina 2026’s Paralympic Games focus more on people and their attributes. In Andrea Fontanari’s artwork, colorful brushstrokes form two figures that help and carry each other to the finish line, a strong reminder that ‘every small act of altruism can ignite a spark and inspire real change,’ the artist says. Deconstructing the stereotypical body shapes using Microsoft Paint marks the art poster of Aronne Pleuteri, resulting in a canvas filled with abstract and uncontrollable whirls. These swirling lines also visit the artwork of Roberto de Pinto, where he personifies a Paralympic athlete who braves challenges.
In his canvas, the snowdrop, a flower typically found in the Italian mountains at the end of wintertime, comes through, a symbol of strength for the artist because it manages to pierce the cold snow cover and bloom. These themes of resilience and strength show up in Clara Woods’ Milano Cortina 2026 art poster named ‘Your Love.’ For the artist, sports, like life, is an event where ‘we fall, we rise, we cheer for each other, and we keep going,’ she says. The series concludes with Giulia Mangoni’s artwork, which draws from a photograph of the China-Sweden wheelchair curling final at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics. The athlete raises her arms in joy and victory, and the artist reiterates celebrating every athletic achievement, topping it off with the phrase, ‘victory is more than just a moment.’
The Mountain by Maddalena Tesser
The Oasis of Play by Flaminia Veronesi
Torch by Martina Cassatella
Together We Play, Together We Transform by Andrea Fontanari
Untitled by Aronne Pleuteri
Untitled (Snowdrops) by Roberto de Pinto
You Love by Clara Woods
Victory is More Than a Moment by Giulia Mangoni
project info:
name: Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games art posters
foundation: Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 | @milanocortina2026
institution: Triennale Milano | @triennalemilano
artists
olympics: Beatrice Alici, Martina Cassatella, Giorgia Garzilli, Maddalena Tesser, Flaminia Veronesi | @beatricealici, @n._verde, @giorgiagarzilli, @maddalenatesser, @flami_veronesi
paralympics: Roberto de Pinto, Andrea Fontanari, Aronne Pleuteri, Clara Woods, Giulia Mangoni | @roberto_depinto, @andrea.fontanari, @barbaronne, @woods_clara_, @gmangoni
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