Brescia, an exhibition to celebrate women in art history, from Titian to Boldini

Ninety masterpieces to bear witness to the role of women in the history of Italian art, from the Renaissance to the Belle Époque: this is the goal of the exhibition Divina creatura. Women in Art from Titian to Boldini, scheduled at Brescia’s Palazzo Martinengo from January 18 to June 7, 2020. The exhibition is curated by Davide Dotti and includes works by artists such as Guercino, Pitocchetto, Andrea Appiani, Francesco Hayez, Giuseppe De Nittis, Federico Zandomeneghi, and Giovanni Boldini, whose works have come to represent the personality, refinement, character, sensuality and the most subtle nuances of the female hemisphere, paying special attention to the fashion, hairstyles and accessories typical of each era and geographical context.

The exhibition is divided into eight thematic sections(Biblical Saints and Heroines; Mythology in Pink; Portraits of Women; Female Still Life; Motherhood; Work; Everyday Life; Nudity and Sensuality) and will document the relationship between art and the female world to highlight how women have always been the center of the artistic universe.

"After this year’s success with Animals in Art,“ says curator Davide Dotti, ”I decided to continue the path of investigating topics of great social and media relevance by choosing for 2020 the so fascinating and engaging theme of the woman that artists, especially between the 16th and 19th centuries, have investigated from every iconographic perspective, eternalizing the “divine creatures” in masterpieces that still fatally seduce our gaze. For the visitor, it will be an opportunity to take an exciting journey full of surprises, enhanced by unpublished paintings recently discovered in prestigious private collections, works never exhibited before and close encounters with famous women of the past, including the Brescian Francesca (Fanny) Lechi, portrayed in 1803 by the great Andrea Appiani in an extraordinary canvas that after more than twenty-five years since its last appearance will return to the public."

“The new exhibition event, organized by the Associazione Amici di Palazzo Martinengo,” says the association’s president, Roberta Bellino, "is dedicated to the female universe, which has always been one of the most beloved and popular subjects in the history of art. It is a highly evocative theme that will have an impact on the contemporary world. In collaboration with the Marcegaglia Onlus Foundation, in fact, a number of topical social issues such as gender difference, women and work, motherhood, feminicides and new poverty will be explored. Divine Creature is the sixth event to be held inside the historic Brescian residence, which, also thanks to the exhibitions proposed by the Friends of Palazzo Martinengo and the support of the Province of Brescia, has become one of the cornerstones of the city’s cultural proposal, registering more than 250,000 visitors with its exhibitions."

The exhibition at Palazzo Martinengo will show women from religion (sacred texts and hagiographic books have inspired canvases dedicated to the saints of Christianity or biblical heroines of the Old Testament), literature, mythology (goddesses such as Diana, Venus, Minerva and Juno and figures such as Leda, Europa, Onphale, Circe, Daphne), and ancient history (such as Cleopatra, Lucretia and Sophonisba). But that’s not all: in the context of 19th-century painting, the real protagonist of the exhibition, women were captured in their everyday dimension, grappling with the chores of domestic life and work, for example in the role of affectionate mothers lovingly caring for their children, but also in mischievous attitudes and in intimate situations to enhance their sensual charge, as evidenced by the works of Giovanni Boldini.

The exhibition is organized by the Associazione Amici di Palazzo Martinengo, under the patronage of the Province of Brescia and the Municipality of Brescia, in partnership with Fondazione Marcegaglia onlus. It is precisely the Marcegaglia Onlus Foundation, whose mission is to support women, the driving force behind the growth and development of the entire community, through solidarity and cooperation projects, that will offer schools 350 thematic itineraries to visit the exhibition, with the aim of bringing young people closer and closer to the fantastic world of art and, at the same time, sensitizing them with respect to issues of great social importance related to the female hemisphere. And again, thanks to the collaboration with the Marcegaglia Onlus Foundation, it will be possible to explore through special room panels some issues of great social and media relevance such as inequality between men and women, female labor, domestic violence, social marginalization and new poverty. The works of art will thus become formidable vehicles for raising awareness among the public, especially younger audiences, about topics of great socio-cultural importance. For all information you can visit the exhibition website.

Pictured: Stefano Novo, Conversation on the Balcony (Private collection)

Brescia, an exhibition to celebrate women in art history, from Titian to Boldini

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