Francesco Verla: Trentino's forgotten Renaissance on display

He had never had the honor of a monographic exhibition, and the only complete study on his work (curated by Lionello Puppi) dates back exactly fifty years: to rekindle the spotlight on the figure of Francesco Verla (Vicenza, c. 1470 - Rovereto, 1521), a protagonist of the Renaissance between Veneto and Trentino, is now an exhibition, entitled Il Rinascimento di Francesco Verla. Travels and Encounters of a Forgotten Artist (curated by Domizio Cattoi and Aldo Galli), which runs from July 8 to November 6, 2017 at the Museo Diocesano Tridentino in Trento and brings together much of Verla’s work.

On display are altarpieces that will give ample insight into his style, halfway between the harsh classicism of Andrea Mantegna and the sweetness of Perugino, as well as friezes and grotesques, a genre in which the artist was able to specialize: a breadth of vision that came from frequent sojourns outside the region. In fact, the artist was in Umbria and Rome: he was the first artist to bring first to Vicenza, then to Trentino (where he moved starting in 1513 because of the adverse political conditions in the Vicenza area) the experiences he had had there. The artist worked not only in the capital, but also in the small towns nearby, such as Terlago and Rovereto, a city, the latter, where he spent the last part of his existence. In Trentino it was Verla himself who gave a turn in the Renaissance direction to the art of the territory: the exhibition, moreover, will have connections with the territory because ideal continuation will be the church of San Pantaleone in Terlago, where there is a fresco cycle by Verla, and the Casa Wetterstetter in Calliano, whose facade was decorated by the painter. Among the altarpieces on display will be one from the destroyed church of San Bartolomeo in Vicenza, the artist’s hometown: it is a work that was identified precisely on the occasion of the Diocesan Museum exhibition. But there are many new and unpublished works promised by an exhibition that will emphasize the artist’s stylistic debts, as well as the historical context within which he worked: for example, works by Bartolomeo Montagna and from the Perugia area will be featured. A number of restorations have also been conducted on the occasion of the exhibition (such as that of the detached fresco in the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona, or those of the altarpieces in Mori and San Vigilio Cathedral).

“It is a due compensation to a great protagonist of the Renaissance between Veneto and Trentino, wrongly forgotten,” says Domenica Primerano, director of the Museo Diocesano Tridentino. “The loss of many of his works, the later arrival at the Clesian court of first-rate artists such as Romanino, Dosso Dossi or Marcello Fogolino, and also a certain embarrassment of critics in front of his diversity from contemporary Venetian painters, have long obscured his merits. For the public Verla is therefore today a ’forgotten’ artist. Hence the urgency to rediscover him and reevaluate his role as a standard bearer of the Renaissance between the Adige and the Alps.”

The exhibition is presented at the Castello del Buonconsiglio on Friday, July 7, at 6 p.m., while the opening is held at 9 p.m. at the Museo Diocesano Tridentino. The catalog is published by Museo Diocesano Tridentino and Tipografia Editrice Temi. Exhibition organized by Museo Diocesano Tridentino and the Department of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Trent. Hours: daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. Closed every Tuesday, Aug. 15 and Nov. 1. Tickets: 5 euros full price, 4 euros reduced price for residents, 3 euros reduced price for other categories. Reduced for those who present a ticket for the exhibition Order and Bizarre. The Renaissance of Marcello Fogolino at the Buonconsiglio Castle. Scheduled guided tours included in the ticket price every first and third Sunday of the month, also at 4 p.m. Info at www.museodiocesanotridentino.it.

Image: Francesco Verla, Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria between Saints Lucy, Agatha, Joseph and John the Baptist (1512; Schio, San Francesco)

Francesco Verla: Trentino's forgotten Renaissance on display

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