Italian Renaissance Art Shows
Current and Upcoming Museum Exhibitions in 2007 and 2008
Special exhibitions in the United States and England focus on the vibrant art and culture of Renaissance Italy.
Italian Renaissance art and life are the themes of seven formidable special exhibitions, six in the United States and one in Great Britain. Some of them are not traveling, making for once-in-a-lifetime viewing.
Federico da Montefeltro and His Library
Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (1422-1482), owned one of the most important libraries in Renaissance Italy. Its volumes, numbering more than a thousand, encompassed astrology, geography, history, poetry and theology. Works in Latin, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew also made up part of Federico's scholarly collection. This show exhibits illuminated manuscripts from Federico's library and recreates the atmosphere of his studiolo at Urbino through color reproductions of its intarsia (wood inlay) panels and paintings. A portrait of the learned condottiere (hired mercenary) and his son, as well as one of his recently restored lecterns, are highlights of the show's New York presentation. The Italian version of this special exhibition will feature an entirely different selection of manuscripts.
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY USA: June 8-September 30, 2007
- Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, Italy: October 27, 2007-January 6, 2008
While in Manhattan, visitors to this show should also see the duke's restored study from Gubbio. It's on permanent display in the first-floor European Sculpture and Decorative Arts galleries of the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence
One of Renaissance Florence's foremost sculptors was Desiderio da Settignano (ca. 1429-1464). Some 28 works by the master and his circle, many on exhibit in the United States for the first time, reflect the influence of Donatello (ca. 1386-1466) in portrait busts of children and women as well as sensitive low- or bas-relief sculptures of the Virgin and Child
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. USA: July 1-October 8, 2007
The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece
Three precious panels illustrating Old Testament narratives such as the Creation, two standing prophets and a pair of idealized heads, all painstakingly restored over the course of 25 years, represent the gilded bronze doors of Florence's Baptistery. This extraordinary exhibition is devoted to the amazing artistry of goldsmith, sculptor and designer Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455).
- Art Institute of Chicago, IL USA: July 28-October 14, 2007
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY USA: October 30, 2007-January 13, 2008
- Seattle Art Museum, WA USA: January 26-April 6, 2008
Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome
Approximately 85 works of art from European and American collections, mostly drawings, document how "starving artist" Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566) learned to draw by reproducing works by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Raphael (1483-1520) while sketching masterpieces from classical antiquity. His story is partially revealed through the eyes of painter and theorist Federico Zuccaro (ca. 1541-1609), Taddeo's younger brother and collaborator.
- J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA USA: October 2, 2007–January 6, 2008
Renaissance Siena: Art for a City
This ticketed international loan exhibition displays some 100 ceramics, drawings, manuscripts, paintings and sculptures from European and American public and private collections. Together they describe the turbulent history of Renaissance Siena from around 1460 to 1530. Paintings by Francesco di Giorgio (1439-1501), Domenico Beccafumi (1484-1551), Matteo di Giovanni (d. 1495) and Neroccio de' Landi (1447-1500) reveal a specific artistic vocabulary that these masters employed to promote civic pride and give visual expression to the republic's sense of identity.
- National Gallery, London, England: October 24, 2007-January 13, 2008
Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi
The height of Florentine draftsmanship in Renaissance Italy is examined through 79 works by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Jacopo da Pontormo (1494-1556), Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), Francesco Salviati (1510-1563), Bronzino (1503-1572), Alessandro Allori (1535-1607) and their contemporaries. Works by artists who helped create the frescoes, paintings, tapestries, interior design and expansion of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio are featured in this unique presentation.
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY USA: January 25-April 27, 2008
Leonardo da Vinci: Treasures from the Biblioteca Reale in Turin
On view in the United States for the first time, this important collection of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), spanning most of his career, includes the genius' sharp observations, anatomical studies, explorations of the imagination and designs for practical inventions. Leonardo's Codex on the Flight of Birds (1505/6) contains his notes, complex diagrams and wonderful sketches of architecture, fauna, flora, machines and raging rivers.
- Birmingham Museum of Art, AL USA: September 28-November 9, 2008
- M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA USA: November 16-December 28, 2008
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