Heaven on Earth. Titian and Gerhard Richter Dialogue in Mantua, Palazzo Te.

The exhibition Titian/Gerhard Richter. Heaven on Earth, which brings into dialogue one of the greatest contemporary artists Gerhard Richter (Dresden, 1932) with one of the masters of the Renaissance, Titian Vecellio (Pieve di Cadore, 1488/1490 - Venice, 1576). In particular, Richter has reworked Titian’s painting and the theme of theAnnunciation: the prodromes of the exhibition (which is curated by Helmut Friedel, Marsel Grosso and Giovanni Iovane) go all the way back to 1972, when Richter visited the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, recognizing in Titian a quality “that makes art a work of art,” and thus decided to copy theAnnunciation of San Rocco. Titian’s work has been a source of inspiration for Richter ever since.

Palazzo Te therefore proposed to Richter to tell the dialogue with Titian starting precisely from theAnnunciation of Saint Roch and from the one preserved at the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples: the German artist thus elaborated a path of seventeen works with which he wanted to tell a story, with delicacy and by allusions, all played on the “secret of vision.” “The very theme of annunciation and the feminine,” reads the presentation, "is reconsidered in its ability to mediate ’heaven and earth’ in the work of artists so important and so distant in time; art, great art, is always contemporary. The exhibition Titian/Gerhard Richter. Heaven on Earth recounts the encounter with the mysterious theme of announcement, which reverberates both in a cycle of paintings dedicated to it and in the ways Richter represents the female presence in his life as an artist(Betty, 2013, and Ella, 2007/2014). It is a story that illustrates the thought and practice of color, the mutual transcendence, the connections between colors in their diversity, and, perhaps, even the transparency of vision in the relationship with a mysterious ’beyond’; a reflection on the meaning of painting that Titian and Richter share. The last room is dedicated to this instance, in which Richter wanted to present one of his red mirrors, of the color of Titian’s Virgin’s robe, as evidence of a reverberation that spans time and holds secrets."

The exhibition Titian/Gerhard Richter. Heaven on Earth can be visited during Palazzo Te’s opening hours: until Oct. 27, Mondays from 1 to 7:30 p.m. and Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; from Oct. 28, Mondays from 1 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (ticket office closes one hour earlier). The exhibition is produced and produced by the City of Mantua, the Fondazione Palazzo Te and the Museo Civico di Palazzo Te, under the patronage of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, with the collaboration of the Diocese of Mantua and the Museo Diocesano “Francesco Gonzaga”, with the contribution of the Fondazione Banca Agricola Mantovana and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, with the support of the Amici di Palazzo Te and Musei Mantovani, and with the support of technical sponsors Manerba, Pilkington Italia - NSG Group, Glas Italia - Industria Vetraria Emar. The catalog, published by Corraini, contains texts by Giulio Busi, Annarosa Buttarelli, Claudia Cieri Via and the curators. For all info you can visit the Palazzo Te website.

Pictured: Titian, Annunciation (1535; oil on canvas, 166 x 266 cm; Venice, Scuola Grande di San Rocco)

Heaven on Earth. Titian and Gerhard Richter Dialogue in Mantua, Palazzo Te.

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