An exhibition on Veronese painting from 1570 to 1630 at Verona's Castelvecchio Museum

Running from November 17, 2018, to May 5, 2019, at the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona is the exhibition Bottega, Scuola, Accademia. Painting in Verona from 1570 to the Plague of 1630, curated by Francesca Rossi and Sergio Marinelli. It is an exhibition showcasing 61 works including paintings, drawings, musical instruments and documents, some of which are being presented to the public for the first time. The main focus of the exhibition will be on the artists who were born and grew up in the bosom of a family workshop, that of Domenico and Felice Brusasorzi. A workshop that, at the stylistic crossroads between late Mannerism, Reality painting and Classicism, turned into a sort of corporate academy capable of giving impetus to an intense season of artistic commissions that left an indelible imprint in churches and public and private palaces in the area.

In a context that saw several prominent figures active in Verona, such as Bernardino India (Verona, 1528 - 1590) and Paolo Farinati (Verona, 1524 - 1606), and the proximity to the prolific environment of the Venetian workshops of Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese, and Palma il Giovane, the workshop of Domenico Brusasorzi (Verona, 1516 - 1567) and his son Felice (Verona, 1539 - 1605) stood out in the city in the mid-sixteenth century. Theirs was one of the most industrious workshops, both in terms of the production of paintings and the presence within it of numerous apprentices and disciples, including (they are carefully illustrated in the exhibition) Sante Creara (Verona, c. 1570 - 1630), Alessandro Turchi (Verona, 1578 - Rome, 1649), Pasquale Ottino (Verona, 1578 - 1630) and Marcantonio Bassetti (Verona, 1586 - 1630). The drawings and paintings displayed in the three thematic areas of the exhibition highlight how the early period of these artists is marked by the master’s lexicon, only to be redirected later through the influence of other authors. This fundamental moment in Veronese artistic production was abruptly interrupted by the plague of 1630, which led to the death of many painters and radically changed the sensibility of those who survived, paving the way for a new season of art.

“In the reinterpretation of a multicentered Italy,” writes Francesca Rossi, director of the Veronese Civic Museums and curator of the exhibition with Sergio Marinelli, “grappling with the rise and rise of Caravaggism, Naturalism and the poetics of the affections popularized under the banner of the Catholic Counter-Reformation by Rubensian painting, theinvestigation of the Veronese context contributes to corroborating the idea of a local artistic tradition that managed to hold firm to its own identity and autonomy and to hand it down without yielding to the dominant figurative trends that conditioned the whole of Europe at that time.” And this without falling into self-referential myopia, far from it. The Brusasorzi and their pupils kept themselves perfectly informed about what was happening in the main artistic centers of Italy and Northern Europe, nevertheless favoring an autonomy of style, nurturing a precise expressive vitality that became the trademark not only of Domenico and his son, towards whom Vasari expressed his praise, but also of the host of artists who monopolized art in Verona for more than half a century, reselling important commissions from other Italian capitals as well. “Felice, in a particular way,” the curator continues, “took the lead in the process of establishing an autonomous style that met with immediate success in the city, such that the arrivals of works and craftsmen from outside gradually slowed, [...] for more than half a century, until the tragic calamity that marked the end of a world and the rapid oblivion of an entire generation of painters.”

The layout, designed by Alba Di Lieto and Ketty Bertolaso, simulates, the two project leaders write, “how the Exhibition Hall could be converted into three spaces offering visitors a segment of Veronese painting from the late 16th century to the tragic plague of 1630. If such an exhibition were definitive, it would coherently complete the narrative of the history of Veronese art that begins in the first room of the museum with the year 1000 and continues in the next twenty-six rooms with the narrative of city sculpture and painting. In the past, a number of exhibitions have highlighted the need to expand the Castelvecchio Museum’s display of ancient art to include Baroque and Enlightenment century painting, currently concentrated in only two rooms. At times the exhibitions have been a testing ground for museum displays, and today, after forty years of in-depth artistic studies and restoration, the urgency and importance of a permanent restoration of the Boggian Room is emerging.”

The works on display come from the civic collections and from important loans granted by the Accademia Filarmonica of Verona, the Cariverona Foundation, Banco BPM, and private collectors, testifying to the important and well-established network of territorial collaboration aimed at enhancing the value of heritage. This exhibition continues the in-depth exhibition line resulting from studies and research that the Castelvecchio Museum has undertaken over the years and that from time to time proposes authors and specific periods of Verona’s art history, always turning its gaze to a broader context as well. Studies and research that have led to the very recent publication of the second volume of the General Catalog of Paintings and Miniatures of the Veronese Civic Collections, a monumental work edited by Paola Marini, Ettore Napione and Gianni Peretti. The Philharmonic Academy will host the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Sala Maffeiana, which will be preceded by the performance of several pieces of Baroque music for flute, violin and cello. The conclusion of the presentation will be followed by a tour of the exhibition in Sala Boggian at the Castelvecchio Museum with musical accompaniment.

The exhibition can be visited during the Castelvecchio Museum’s opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (last admission at 6:45 p.m.). Tickets (valid for museum and exhibition): full 6 euros, reduced groups (at least 15 people), concessions and over 60 4.50 euros, reduced schools and children 8 to 14 1 euro. Free for over 65 residents of Verona, disabled and accompanying persons, VeronaCard holders. From October to May, first Sunday of the month single fee 1 euro. For more info visit the Castelvecchio Museum website.

Pictured: Felice Brusasorzi, Madonna and Child, a holy bishop and St. Anthony, and below saints Barbara, Ursula, Apollonia, Magdalena, Cecilia, Agata, Caterina, Lucia (1579; oil on canvas, 303x191.6 cm; Verona, Musei Civici)

An exhibition on Veronese painting from 1570 to 1630 at Verona's Castelvecchio Museum

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