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Italian
still life from Caravaggio to the 18th Century
Italian
still life, a forerunner to modern naturalism,
constitutes one of the greatest European examples of
the representation of inanimate nature.
Approximately 40 years after the last major
exhibition devoted to this theme, ”La natura morta
italiana da Caravaggio al Settecento” presents one
side of Italian painting too long and unjustly
overlooked.
The 227 masterpieces on show - many of which for the
first time ever - give visitors the chance to
familiarize with the schools and main protagonists
of Italian
still life painting:
Arcimboldo, Bimbi, Mario dei Fiori, Dolci, Munari,
Ligozzi, Porpora, Recco, Salvator Rosa, Baschenis,
the Master of Hartford and, of course, Caravaggio
celebrate the beauty and vitality of Mediterranean
culture with a triumph of fruits,
bouquets of flowers and garlands
of all sorts.
The exhibition
opens with mural paintings of Xenia (gifts of fruit
and food made to guests) wonderfully preserved in
the Roman villas of Pompei and Ercolano, touches on
sixteenth century scientific and pictorial
reproduction and moves from north to south, taking
in Milan, Rome, Naples, Florence, Genoa and Venice,
Emilia and Romagna, Lucca and Bergamo, the Italian
capitals of still life.
One of the first in Italy to depict fruit and
flowers, Caravaggio was the most innovative artist
of his time, and he also helped establish the genre
with theoretical writings. The exhibition includes
three major works by Caravaggio: "Boy
bitten by a lizard (Ragazzo morso da ramarro)",
"Bacchus (Bacco)" and "Lute player
(Suonatore di liuto)".
The exhibition also draws a perfect comparison
between the Italian artists, who focused
on space and light, and the most renowned
painters of
Northern Europe, masters of pure description.
The
emotional involvement of the Italian artists shines
through in the impoverished settings of Neapolitan
kitchens, in the rustic breakfasts of Emilia, in the
impasto rendering of fruit and in the tenderness of
portraits of animals, alive or dead. In response to
the rich banquets typically portrayed in Northern
Europe, the Italians depicted fruit and vegetables,
giving life to vital works, with a fine vein of
sadness running
through them, linked to a perception of the frailty
of life.
The
exhibition follows this complex itinerary which,
after the Baroque and decorative flourish,
progresses on to the late 17th century with
important examples of lucid portrayals of reality,
reflecting the pre-Enlightenment era. Some aspects,
like the painting of flowers and animals, are
presented in separate thematic sections
of the exhibition:
worth
mentioning, the watercolour by Giorgio Liberale,
“Conchiglie e ricci di mare”, (part of a
scientific samples project commissioned by Archduke
Ferdinand of Tyrol, in 1562-63 and 1576) and the
panels with depictions of plants by Jacopo Ligozzi,
to whom Francesco I de' Medici had entrusted the
task of creating a body of botanical and zoological
panels
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La
natura morta italiana da Caravaggio al Settecento
Palazzo
Strozzi,
Piazza Strozzi 1, Florence
until 12th October
opening times: every day from 10 am until 9 pm
Thursdays and Fridays until 11 pm. Entry until one
hour before closing time
ticket prices: 8 euros, concessions 6.50 euros
telephone: 39 055 2645155
Links
Official
website
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