American Gothic: two 14th-century works coming from Houston to Palazzo Barberini

From September 27, 2018 to January 27, 2019, the National Gallery of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini in Rome is hosting the exhibition American Gothic. The Masters of the Madonna Straus, which is part of a policy of exchanging works with international museums promoted by the National Galleries of Ancient Art. For the occasion, two 14th-century Italian works arrive in Rome from the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (Palazzo Barberini, on the other hand, reciprocates by sending Hans Holbein’s Portrait of Henry VIII, lent for an exhibition dedicated to the Tudors, to Texas). The two paintings are the Madonna and Child by the so-called Sienese Master of the Madonna Straus and the Madonna and Child by the Master of the Madonna Straus.

The two panels come from the collection collected by Edith Abraham and Percy Selden Straus: from the Straus collection in 1944 they became part of that of the Museum of Fine Arts, and since then the panel by the Sienese Master of the Straus Madonna has never returned to Europe (the other, however, only once: to Paris in 1976). The panel by the Sienese Master of the Madonna Straus is the earliest, dating from the mid-14th century and manifesting influences stemming from Simone Martini, while the second, on the other hand, was made not by a Sienese but a Florentine artist, dates from the early 15th century, and is in the groove of Tuscan Gothic painting. Both works are in an excellent state of preservation and stand out for the intensity of the colors, as well as the calligraphy of the background and ornamental motifs. The two panels will be placed side by side with the Madonna of Palazzo Venezia, which was previously placed in relation to the Sienese Master of the Straus Madonna and thus allows a significant visual comparison to be made.

The exhibition (hashtags #goticoamericano and #palazzobarberini) can be visited during Palazzo Barberini’s opening hours: daily except Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. (last entry at 6 p.m.). Tickets (valid for both Palazzo Barberini and Galleria Corsini): full 12 euros, reduced 6 euros for EU citizens between 18 and 25 years old. The ticket is valid from the moment of stamping for 10 days in both Museum locations: Palazzo Barberini and Galleria Corsini. Free: under 18 years of age, school groups and accompanying teachers from the European Union (by prior reservation), students and teachers of Architecture, Humanities (archaeological or historical-artistic address), Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Educational Sciences, Academies of Fine Arts, employees of the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities, ICOM members, tour guides and interpreters on duty, journalists with order card, handicapped persons with accompanying person, school teaching staff, tenured or with term contract, upon presentation of appropriate attestation on the model prepared by Miur. For more info you can visit the Barberini Corsini National Galleries website.

American Gothic: two 14th-century works coming from Houston to Palazzo Barberini

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