The National Gallery of Australia presents 15th & 16th Century Italian Paintings from the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo in an exhibition on display until 9 April 2012.
The exhibition features more than 70 paintings including works by Italian masters such as Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini and Mantegna – artists whose paintings have never been seen in Australia before.
Sandro Botticelli, The story of Virginia the Roman c.1500 (detail). Tempera and gold on wood panel, 83.3 x 165.5 cm. Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, bequest of Giovanni Morelli 1891.
The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of Italian art are the foundation of the grand tradition of European painting. The genius of artists such as Raphael, Botticelli and Titian is known to most Australians, but visitors to this exhibition will also discover the talents of less wellknown painters such as Tura, Crivelli, Lotto, Vivarini, Carpaccio, Perugino and Moroni.
Attributed to Marco del Buono and Apollonio di Giovanni, Love procession c.1440s. Tempera on wood panel, 39.2 x 56.0 cm. Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, bequest of Antonietta Noli, widow of Carlo Marenzi 1901.
None of the works in the exhibition has ever left Europe before. The paintings are only able to be loaned by the National Gallery of Australia because the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo is renovating its display spaces and is closed. The National Gallery of Australia has organised the exhibition in partnership with the City of Bergamo and its Pinacoteca Accademia Carrara, Bergamo. The city of Bergamo is situated in the province of Lombardy in Northern Italy, near Milan.
The paintings emanate from cities and courts of Renaissance high culture. In Venice, Florence, Bergamo, Padua, Ferrara and Siena, the Church and private patrons commissioned religious scenes as well as magnificent portraits. Some of the paintings in this exhibition were originally sizeable church altarpieces, the like of which have rarely been seen in Australia, but the majority of the paintings are intimate devotional panels commissioned for private use. – www.nga.gov.au
