An exhibition on portraiture in the Baroque age at the Zani Foundation

The Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation in Cellatica (Brescia) is hosting, from November 5, 2021 to March 13, 2022, the exhibition Sguardo d’Artista. Giorgione, Carpioni, Guardi and Canaletto between mystery, myth and invention, set up in the temporary exhibition hall, integrated with the permanent exhibition itinerary of the Foundation’s House Museum. It is an exhibition-dossier that takes its starting point from the painting on display in the Sala del Ridotto (bedroom of the House Museum), The Presentation Before the Wedding, a work of about 1750 by Pietro Longhi: a snapshot of the reception before the wedding between Giovanni Grimani and Caterina Contarini (celebrated on April 27, 1750 in San Trovaso), which introduces a very common custom, namely the presence of the artist’s self-portrait in the depicted scene. The man standing in a green tailcoat behind the bride’s father is traditionally identified with Pietro Longhi himself, given the close resemblance to other known self-portraits of the artist.

The four works on display( Pietro della Vecchia’sGiorgione with a Horse Skull, Giulio Carpioni’sSelf-Portrait, Antonio Visentini’s Frontispiece with Portraits of Canaletto and Visentini, and Pietro Longhi’s Portrait of Francesco Guardi ) are intended to offer a comprehensive range of portraiture in the Baroque age. If Pietro della Vecchia’s work is in fact essentially a portrait of invention, Carpioni’s is instead a self-celebrating portrait, a function also confirmed by the existence of numerous versions made by the artist. Carpioni wanted to emphasize in this self-portrait as much introspective emphasis as special attention to the motions of the soul. Decidedly commemorative appears the portrait of Canaletto made by Antonio Visentini for the frontispiece of the “Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum” series. Finally, a sort of homage by Pietro Longhi to his colleague Francesco Guardi is the fine portrait of 1764 in which the painter is immortalized in intimacy, as in a snapshot stolen at the moment when the artist was busy painting in his atelier.

The works chosen for the exhibition then allow want to create a dialogue with selected paintings from the permanent collection (in particular with those of Canaletto, Bellotto, Tiepolo, and Guardi), while shifting the viewer’s point of observation from the artist’s style to his identity. Indeed, the selected portraits make it possible to start a reflection on the image of the artist in the Veneto area in the 17th and 18th centuries, between invention, celebration and a hint of mystery.

“A new exhibition project that starts, once again, from the precise desire to enhance the heritage of the House Museum, an inexhaustible source of inspiration for unprecedented and transversal cultural paths,” says Massimiliano Capella, director of the House Museum. “Indeed, the museum, with its collections, remains our point of reference.”

On the occasion of the exhibition, the House Museum’s Educational Services have developed a specific proposal for children and young people. Workshops and thematic paths can be booked by schools of all levels or by families as part of the “Museum in the Family” program, which can be enjoyed every Saturday and Sunday, throughout the period of the exhibition, at 3 p.m. The formula provides for a special entrance fee of €5.00 per child/youth for participation in the workshop/educational path and €5.00 for adult “chaperones” participating in the guided tour. The workshop for ages 5 and up, What face do I make of you!, invites girls and boys to observe their partner or companion and make a portrait using the tempera painting technique that brings out details, passions or curiosities about the subject represented, not necessarily realistic. The thematic path for children aged 9 and up, Who are you? Inquiries in Art Between History and Invention, guides participants on a tour of the exhibition, dedicated to highlighting the special aspects of the portrait genre. In particular, they are involved in an inquiry, designed to identify the subjects depicted, from given clues.

For all information you can visit the Zani Foundation website.

An exhibition on portraiture in the Baroque age at the Zani Foundation

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