Foiano della Chiana hosts a widespread exhibition to highlight Della Robbia works in the area

From June 3 to Sept. 30, 2023, the Anno Robbiano exhibition will be held in Foiano della Chiana, organized in collaboration with the MANN-National Archaeological Museum of Naples and theState Archives of Siena, under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Tuscany, and the Province of Arezzo, and with the technical-scientific committee composed of Paolo Giuliarini, Cinzia Cardinali and Andrea Vignini.

The goal of the municipal administration is to make known, enhance and systematize the great heritage of Della Robbia’s works through the construction of a visiting route that would make it a sort of diffuse Robbiano Museum. With this project, 2023 could become theyear of the rediscovery of Robbia’s works, through which to promote on a cultural and tourist level not only the village of Foiano della Chiana but also Valdichiana and the entire province of Arezzo.

In Valdichiana, most of Della Robbia’s works are documented in Foiano della Chiana: in fact, in its most important churches are preserved works that fully acknowledge the work of the Della Robbia family on site during the 15th century and the first decades of the 16th century.

One fine example is the Madonna of the Girdle, still preserved in the Collegiate Church of San Martino, exemplified on the counterpart altarpiece preserved at the Sanctuary of La Verna. In this altarpiece, as well as in the 16th-century production, we can read a strong Savonariola influence, especially in the stiff figures wrapped in chastened robes and with conventional physiognomies. Then in the church of Santa Maria della Fraternita there is the Madonna and Child also known as the Madonna of the Snow: an early work by Andrea Della Robbia, made on the basis of an idea by Luca Della Robbia, which should be interpreted as a splendid variant of a theme repeatedly proposed by the Della Robbia workshop (as, for example, in the so-called Altman Madonna, preserved in New York, or in the one in the Wittmann collection in Budapest). It can be proposed to be dated around 1460 and marks not only Andrea’s debut in his uncle’s workshop, but also the beginning of Della Robbia’s fruitful production in the entire Valdichiana. And again, the church of the Fraternita houses a noble coat of arms from a Della Robbia workshop, the authorship of which has been proposed to be Giovanni Della Robbia.

The most significant work, however, is the sculptural group of the Virgin of the Spasimo, consisting of the Virgin supported by the Pious Women, a wooden Christ, St. John and St. Mary Magdalene mourning and St. Francis and St. Clare praying, recently reunited after many vicissitudes in the church of St. Francis, which is considered to all intents and purposes to be the original location. Over time there have been uneven attributions, but today the prevailing criticism attributes the authorship of the work to Francesco della Robbia (known as Friar Ambrose) for the glazed ceramic statues and to Andrea della Robbia for the wooden Christ.

As part of the exhibition, Robbiani Itineraries will be created that will periodically take visitors to identified sites throughout the duration of the exhibition. With the creation of a map, signage including tours and a dedicated website. Conferences dedicated to the Della Robbia family are also planned, involving not only art historians and specialists in the field and restorers, but also historians and experts in the field of cultural and economic enhancement. Finally, the project also includes a catalog and a documentary video to promote tourism, but above all, educational tours and playful-educational activities for adults and children will be organized to accompany the exhibition both in Foiano and in the province of Arezzo.

Two collateral events will also be organized: Nobilis Materia by contemporary artist Gian Luca Bianco, curated by Massimo Magurano, and Mother and Child. A Divine Love with works from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

For all info visit https://turismo.comune.foiano.ar.it/

Photo: Municipality of Foiano della Chiana

Madonna of the

the Snow

Foiano della Chiana hosts a widespread exhibition to highlight Della Robbia works in the area

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