Paolo Veneziano's precious triptych from the Pilotta goes on a trip to the Getty in Los Angeles

The precious triptych on a gold background by Paolo Veneziano depicting the Crucifixion and the Madonna and Child, made between 1330 and 1340 and belonging to the Complesso monumentale della Pilotta in Parma, specifically from the collection of Venetian painting between the 13th and 16th centuries, has gone on loan to the Getty Center in Los Angeles to be displayed at the major exhibition Paolo Veneziano: Art and Devotion in 14th-Century Venice visitable from July 13 to October 3.

Complesso della Pilotta director Simone Verde personally accompanied the work to the Getty Center and stressed that "the loan is part of the important relationship of scientific collaboration between the Getty Center and the Nuova Pilotta, also fostered by the Ministry of Culture as part of the cultural exchanges between different countries and major international museums."

The U.S. institution is supporting the restoration of an altarpiece by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli depicting the Holy Family with Saints Catherine and John the Baptist. The large canvas, which was in a poor state of preservation, after research documenting its historical-critical events and restoration work, will be displayed in the new rooms of the North Wing dedicated to 16th- and 17th-century Emilian painting, which is currently being refurbished, along with other works by the Parma artist in the Pilotta collection.

“Loans for temporary exhibitions are part of the institutional tasks of museums and the objectives of enhancing the cultural heritage of museum collections,” Verde continued. “To this end, the scientific work underlying the museological work is nourished by the valuable relationships with other national and international institutions, so as to make research and exchange projects one of the strengths of the New Pilotta as an example of a participatory and contemporary museum complex.”

The one proposed by the Getty Center is the first international monograph devoted to the artist who led the first painting workshop in late medieval Venice, producing large polyptychs as well as small paintings intended for personal devotion. The Getty exhibition, curated by Senior Curator of paintings Davide Gasparotto, also features exceptionally a number of works by the Venetian master for the first time reassembled thanks to loans from the various museums that preserve individual portions. This thematic exhibition brings together panels that originally formed a larger whole but are now scattered in different collections.

Using materials and techniques that arrived in his hometown from Byzantium, Africa and Asia, Paolo Veneziano created elaborate altarpieces composed of numerous painted panels placed within carved gilded wood frames.

The triptych in the Complex is a work of key importance to the Getty exhibition, as it is a fully intact version that will allow an opportunity for comparison in reconstructing another triptych by the artist, fragmented parts of which are in the Getty, Avignon, Worcester and Washington.

Image: Paolo Veneziano, Crucifixion and Madonna and Child (1330 - 1340; tempera and gold on panel, 72 x 72.5 cm; Parma, Complesso monumentale della Pilotta)

Paolo Veneziano's precious triptych from the Pilotta goes on a trip to the Getty in Los Angeles

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