In London, a diptych by Giovanni da Rimini reunited for the first time

Opening today and running until October 8, 2017, at the National Gallery in London is the exhibition Giovanni da Rimini. A 14th-century masterpiece unveiled, during which the panel with Scenes from the Life of the Virgin and Other Saints by Giovanni da Rimini (Rimini, documented 1292 to 1309), one of the major painters of the Giotto school of Rimini, will go on display. The work was acquired by the National Gallery in 2015, and the exhibition will provide an opportunity to reunite the panel with its counterpart from the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica at Palazzo Barberini in Rome: the reconstruction, which the British public will be able to see for the first time ever, takes advantage of the fact that the two panels are considered parts of a single diptych, which will therefore be reunited.

The exhibition also makes use of works by artists active in Rimini in the early fourteenth century, as well as more ivories and other paintings from the National Gallery in London, to show how, in fourteenth-century Rimini, a style had emerged that combined Byzantine elements with the new and more natural instances of Giotto.

The exhibition, curated by Anna Koopstra (who will give a “free lunchtime talk” on June 22 at the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing Theatre during which, from 1 to 1:45 p.m. local time, she will introduce the work and the exhibition), is supported by a donor who has chosen to remain anonymous and wishes to thank Ronald S. Lauder for the donation that made the purchase of the Giovanni da Rimini panel possible. It will remain open daily until Oct. 8, in Room 1 of the National Gallery, with free admission. For those who cannot go to London, a Facebook tour, by art historian Caroline Campbell, is planned for Thursday, June 29, at 6 p.m. (London time, 7 p.m. in Italy) on the National Gallery’s Facebook page. For those unable to connect live, the video will remain available on the museum’s social channel. More info on the website.

Image: Giovanni da Rimini, Scenes from the Life of the Virgin and Other Saints (c. 1300-1305; tempera on panel, 54.4 x 36.5 cm; London, National Gallery)

In London, a diptych by Giovanni da Rimini reunited for the first time

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