Giovan Battista Marino’s Galeria has traditionally been situated within the realm of otium litteratum fostered by courts and academies, rather than considered from a theoretical perspective. In this context, although recent scholarship – culminating in the exhibition at the Galleria Borghese (Rome, 19 Nov. 2024 – 9 Feb. 2025) – has refined our understanding of the relationship between poetry and the visual arts in this collection, its theoretical dimension has received comparatively little attention. Yet, as Gerald Ackerman has already shown in his work on Dicerie sacre (Turin, 1614), Marino appears to possess a deep familiarity with contemporary artistic debates. This paper seeks to measure the extent to which such reflections are also present in Galeria, potentially revealing affinities with the thought of Giovan Paolo Lomazzo (1538–1592) and Federico Zuccaro (1539–1609). Far from being merely decorative or erudite, Galeria functions as a poetic museum articulating a personal and sophisticated vision of the arts, deserving renewed theoretical attention.