An exhibition of Rembrandt's graphic works at Castel Stenico

From June 11 to November 6, 2022, Castel Stenico will host the exhibition Rembrandt. Graphic Works from the Collections of Buonconsiglio Castle, dedicated to the engravings made by the Dutch artist and coming from the Lazzari Turco Menz collection, donated in 1924 to the Municipality of Trento, and preserved at Buonconsiglio Castle.

The exhibition presents Rembrandt’s graphic work. Of the approximately forty sheets in the museum’s collection related to the great artist, sixteen examples are pulled from Rembrandt’s original plates and with watermarked papers that confirm their authenticity and dating, such as The Death of the Virgin or The Self-Portrait of 1633. The exhibition thus aims to deepen the knowledge, dissemination and fortune of the Dutch master. “Riuscite molto belle, intagliate di buon gusto e fatte di buona maniera,” this is how Guercino in 1660 described with admiration the etchings of the “great virtuoso” Rembrandt, expressing a judgment that would be shared by generations of artists, from Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione to Stefano della Bella, to Piazzetta, to Piranesi, and that would fuel the collecting passion, of which the Lazzari Turco Menz collection is one of the most illustrious examples.

Formed by Karl Paul von Menz (1778-1847), who belonged to a well-known family from Bolzano, the collection of engravings, later inherited by Simone Turco Turcati (1803-1861), came to Buonconsiglio Castle in 1924, “brought together in various display cases or cardboard shelters,” thanks to the testamentary disposition of the musician Raffaello Lazzari (1845-1924), husband of Giulia Turco Turcati (1848-1912), Simone’s daughter and great-granddaughter of Menz himself. The exhibition intends to highlight some of the great themes favored by Rembrandt, including the portrait, in which is reflected the intense and passionate study of the human soul with a highly original graphic writing executed, according to Filippo Baldinucci’s comment, with “certain friezes and frets, and irregular strokes and without dintel, making, however, from the whole a deep chiaroscuro and of great strength.”

TheSelf-portrait with hat and scarf around the neck is characterized by a whimsical, loose and rapid stroke and strong shading, while theSelf-portrait with Saskia, which in its setting recalls Raphael’s Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione, reveals the evocative power of the latter’s lesson, whose work Rembrandt knew through a series of translation prints contained in the “prestige books” in his collection. In the folios devoted to the Stories of the Old and New Testaments, Rembrandt succeeds in capturing thedramatic essence of the episodes through strong contrasts of chiaroscuro, particularly evident in Christ and the Samaritan Woman (1634) or Jesus Hunting the Merchants from the Temple (1635) in which the story is traversed by beams of light that burst into the scene with an extraordinary theatrical effect. In the majestic scenographic layout of the Death of the Virgin (1639), inspired by Albrecht Dürer’s engraving of the same name, Rembrandt reaches one of his expressive heights: the choral participation of the characters, gathered around the bed, is described with a careful study of feelings, emotions and sorrow, underscored by a decisive graphic mark and the glimpse of light descending from above, indicating the solemnity of the event.

Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Mondays.

An exhibition of Rembrandt's graphic works at Castel Stenico

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