15th Century And Earlier
Botticelli sent to Milan
September 6 2024
Picture: ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Botticelli's The Adoration of the Magi is being lent to the Carlo Maria Martini Diocesan Museum in Milan this winter for a special exhibition. One of the treasures of the Uffizi in Florence, the loan will last from 29th October 2024 until 2nd February 2025, a perfect reason to visit Milan at Christmas I think!
Memling in Bruges
September 5 2024
Video: smarthistory
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new collaboration between VISITFLANDERS, Smarthistory and the Center for Netherlandish Art at the MFA Boston has produced the following video on Hans Memling's Triptych of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist from the Museum Saint John's Hospital in Bruges. Featured within are the voices of Dr. Anna Koopstra, Curator of Early Netherlandish painting, Musea Brugge, Bruges and Dr. Steven Zucker.
New Catalogue for Gemäldegalerie's Netherlandish and French Paintings 1400-1480
September 2 2024
Picture: Gemäldegalerie Berlin
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (the association of curators of Flemish and Dutch art) have drawn attention to the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin's new catalogue for Netherlandish and French Paintings 1400-1480. Edited by Katrin Dyballa and Stephan Kemperdick, the publication examines 69 paintings in 52 catalogue entries including works by Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Jean Fouquet, Albert van Ouwater and Hugo van der Goes.
Holbein the Elder in Augsburg
July 31 2024
Picture: kunstsammlungen-museen.augsburg.de
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Collections & Museums of Augsburg have just opened a new exhibition dedicated to Hans Holbein the Elder (1465–1524). Scheduled to coincide with the 500th Anniversary of his death, the show is supported by major loans from museums across Europe and will run until 20th October 2024.
Madonna del Pantheon Conserved
July 10 2024
Video: MiC_Italia
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Rome that the so-called Madonna del Pantheon, an incredibly ancient religious painting possibly dating to the 7th century, has been conserved. The 8-month project, which included scientific analysis, was funded by the Italian fashion house Bulgari.
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Foligno acquire Giovanni di Corraduccio
July 9 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Foligno in Italy have announced their acquisition of a triptych by Giovanni di Corraduccio. The work was acquired from the recent Evening Auction at Sotheby's London where it sold for £348,000 (inc. fees) over its £200k - £300k estimate. The foundation expressed that it is committed to to the recovery, protection and enhancement of the local historical and artistic heritage of Foligno in Perugia and the work will soon go on display at the Palazzo Cattani.
Duecento painting: The art and technique of Margarito d’Arezzo and his contemporaries
July 4 2024
Picture: Museo Nazionale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna di Arezzo
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A call for papers has been issued for a collaborative conference on the subject of Duecento painting: The art and technique of Margarito d'Arezzo and his contemporaries.
According to the link above (in translation):
This interdisciplinary convention invites colleagues working on all aspects of thirteenth-century painting, from art-historical studies to scientific analysis, technical research and conservation. The conference aims to provide an exceptional opportunity to share and discuss the artworks of Margarito d'Arezzo and his contemporaries.
Submissions covering a wide range of topics will be considered, including works on panel, sculptures, wall paintings, textiles, and miniatures, as well as art history and the history of collecting. We expect that the conference will stimulate studies in this area, so proposals may also include information on ongoing research, without detailed results.
The conference will take place in October 2025 and abstracts will need to be submitted by 20th September 2024.
The Torlonia Collection at the Louvre
June 25 2024
Picture: presse.louvre.fr
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new display of classical sculpture from the Torlonia Collection will be opened tomorrow at the Louvre in Paris. It will be the first time the collection has been exhibited outside of Italy.
According to the press release:
The Paris show is intended to display the Torlonia Collection, little known in France, in a setting steeped in the history of museums of ancient sculpture. It will offer an intimate archaeological and aesthetic look at the extraordinary Torlonia marbles as they engage in dialogue with the artworks in the Louvre’s own collection.
It will be held in the summer apartments of Anne of Austria and in the adjacent ‘Salle d’Auguste’ , where Roman sculpture has been displayed in the Louvre since 1798. These spaces have been completely renovated as they will later be home to a newly designed display of the Louvre’s Roman collection.
The exhibition will run until 11th November 2024.
15th Century Flemish Paintings in the Prado
June 21 2024
Picture: tiendaprado.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Prado Museum in Madrid have just published a new catalogue of their 15th Century Flemish Paintings (spotted via @MarteVelazquez on 'X'). The volume, which was written by José Juan Pérez Preciado, includes vast descriptions of works by the likes of Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, The Master of Flémalle, Dirk Bouts, Hans Memling and Hugo van der Goes.
Recent Release: Painting Architecture in Early Renaissance Italy
June 20 2024
Picture: brepols.net
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Harvey Miller Publishers are set to release the following book this month. Painting Architecture in Early Renaissance Italy: Innovation and Persuasion at the Intersection of Artistic and Architectural Practice has been written by the scholar Livia Lupi whose work has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and the Warburg Institute.
According to the publication's blurb:
Why did artists include prominent architectural settings in their narrative paintings? Why did they labour over specific, highly innovative structural solutions? Why did they endeavour to design original ornamental motifs which brought together sculptural, painterly and architectural approaches, as well as showcasing their understanding of materiality? Painting Architecture in Early Renaissance Italy addresses these questions in order to shed light on the early exchanges between artistic and architectural practice in Italy, arguing that architecture in painting provided a unique platform for architectural experimentation.
Rather than interpreting architectural settings as purely spatial devices and as lesser counterparts of their built cognates, this book emphasises their intrinsic value as designs as well as communicative tools, contending that the architectural imagination of artists was instrumental in redefining the status of architectural forms as a kind of cultural currency. Exploring the nexus between innovation and persuasion, Livia Lupi highlights an early form of little-discussed paragone between painting and architecture which relied on a shared understanding of architectural invention as a symbol of prestige.
Bellissimo! in Freiburg
June 6 2024
Picture: freiburg.de
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I failed to spot that a new exhibition opened in the Augustinermuseum in Freiburg last month entitled Bellissimo! Italian paintings from the Lindenau Museum Altenburg (via @bastianeclercy).
According to the city's website:
Magnificent golds and bright colors, elegant lines and refined artistic techniques - this is how precious Italian paintings by Fra Angelico, Guido da Siena or Sandro Botticelli inspire. They were created in famous art centers such as Florence or Siena. The exhibition shows the pictorial world of churches and private devotion, but also offers insights into the art of stately courts. The Lindenau Museum in Altenburg owns one of the most important collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the early 16th century abroad. On the occasion of its renovation, the treasures are guests in Freiburg.
The show will continue until 3rd November 2024.
Donatello's Judith and Holofernes Conserved
June 4 2024
Picture: ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that Donatello's bronze of Judith and Holofernes has been conserved and redisplayed to the public. The sculpture, in the collections of Palazzo Vecchio, has just completed a ten-month conservation project which was funded in part by the Friends of Florence Foundation. Click on the link to see images of the newly restored work.
Fra Angelico at the Palazzo Strozzi
May 31 2024
Picture: palazzostrozzi.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Palazzo Strozzi in Florence have released details regarding a major exhibition they are planning in 2025. The show, dedicated to Fra Angelico, promises to be an unmissable event.
According to their website:
The occasion of the exhibition will see the restoration of extraordinary masterpieces and the re-assembly for the first time ever of several of Angelico’s great altarpieces that have been dispersed in museums throughout Europe and North America. This will allow an unparalleled journey, with loans from the most important museums and institutions in the world such as the Louvre in Paris, the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Windsor Castle, the Vatican Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Angelico allows an exploration of the production, development, and influence of Fra Angelico’s art in dialogue with painters like Lorenzo Monaco, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Jan van Eyck, and Lorenzo Monaco, as well as sculptors such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Michelozzo, and Luca della Robbia.
The exhibition will be opening in September 2025!
Brancacci Chapel Restoration Completed
May 29 2024
Video: @MichelangeloBuonarrotietornato
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The restoration of the Brancacci Chapel in Florence has been completed after a 3 1/2 year project. Begun in November 2020, the project had included an in-depth analysis of the pigments and processes used in its creation by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi. Findings will be presented in a special conference next Spring. Watch the video above to see some of the conservators at work, although, the accompanying music is awful, so I recommend muting your speakers beforehand.
Sculptural Portrait of Brunelleschi Discovered
May 24 2024
Picture: ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that a terracotta bust of the famous architect Filippo Brunelleschi has been discovered. The work by Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti called il Buggiano (1412-1462) was discovered in a Florentine residence and has been purchased by the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore for €300,000. Click on the link to see a photograph of the bust.
Filippo e Filippino Lippi in Rome
May 16 2024
Video: askanews
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition opened at the Musei Capitolini in Rome yesterday. As the title suggests, the show will examine the careers of father and son Fra' Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) and Filippino (1457-1504). Both works on paper and paintings will be on display drawing on loans from collections across Italy.
The exhibition will run until 25th August 2024.
See Restoration of Masaccio on Scaffold
May 10 2024
Picture: smn.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Visitors to the Florentine Church of Santa Maria Novella will be able to glimpse at Masaccio's The Holy Trinity up-close during the next few weeks. This has been made possible due to a special scaffold having been erected for a conservation project on the wall painting. It will cost a mere €1.50 (on top of your entrance ticket) to see the work up close!
Adopt a Fresco at the Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo a Passignano
May 1 2024
Picture: Wikipedia
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo a Passignano, also known as the Badia di Passignano, are running an 'Adopt a Fresco' scheme to help raise money to conserve their set of 30 wall paintings. Undertaken by Filippo di Antonio Filippelli (1460-1506), a pupil of Domenico Ghirlandaio, the vast scheme of paintings are in need of consolidation and restoration. Donors will have the opportunity to have their names engraved onto a plaque.
The Arts in France during the reign of Charles VII
April 26 2024
Video: Pixelucis
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I missed the news last month that a new exhibition opened at the Musée de Cluny dedicated to the Arts in France during the reign of Charles VII. The show focuses on works produced during the end of the 15th century, troubled by the last outbreaks of the Hundred Years' War and prone to influences from Flanders and Italy.
The show will run until 16th June 2024.
Sleeper Alert?
April 15 2024
Picture: Bonhams
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Multiple accounts on 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) had drawn attention to this painting catalogued as 'After Rogier van der Weyden, late 17th Century - Portrait of Philip the Good' which achieved an impressive £203,600 over its low estimate of £4,000 last week at Bonhams London.
