In Parma an exhibition around Leonardo's Scapigliata

From May 18 to August 12, 2019, the National Gallery of Parma is offering an exhibition entitled The Fortune of Leonardo da Vinci’s "La Scapiliata," curated by Pietro Marani and Simone Verde.

The exhibition is part of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci ’s death, and starting with four well-known masterpieces by the artist, the public will be able to admire other works by Gherardo Starnina, Bernardino Luini, Hans Holbein, Tintoretto, and Giovanni Lanfranco, all gathered around the Scapigliata preserved in the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta.

The exhibition will be divided into four sections: the first with some antiquities and the first steps of Renaissance pictorial research, where Leonardo will have the highest expression; the second will present some original paintings and drawings by Leonardo or from the Florentine area in which the theme of decomposed hair will be treated, including the Leda of the Uffizi.

Also present will be ancient derivations of Leonardo’s theme, testifying to the early critical fortune of this iconographic subject, with works by Giovanni Agostino da Lodi and Bernardino Luini. Another section will offer an excursus on the painter and sculptor Gaetano Callani, who included Leonardo’s Scapigliata in his collection, and an in-depth look at Paolo Toschi, who between 1820 and 1840 was director of the Gallerie dell’Accademia di Belle Arti in Parma. He called the Scapigliata “a very rare thing to be found in our days.”

The exhibition and catalog intend to dwell on the issue of the work’s authenticity: the most credited hypothesis today proposes the tablet as having belonged to Isabella d’Este. The work remained in Mantua even after the sale of the Gonzaga collection to Charles I Stuart (1626-27) only to be taken away during the Sack of the city carried out by the Lansquenets in the pay of Ferdinand II in 1630-31. Later,the Scapigliata would flow into Gaetano Callani’s collection during the Milan sojourn undertaken by the artist between 1773 and 1778, perhaps thanks to his brothers-in-law Agostino and Giuseppe Gerli.
For the occasion, the work was subjected to scientific investigation, using UV and grazing light fluorescence, to detect the painting technique and pigments used by Leonardo in the various stages of execution.

For info: www.pilotta.beniculturali.it

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Exhibition admission 5 euros, in addition to the cost of the museum ticket.

Image: Leonardo da Vinci, La Scapigliata (c. 1508; earth shadow, greened amber and white lead on poplar panel, 21 x 24.7 cm; Parma, National Gallery)

In Parma an exhibition around Leonardo's Scapigliata

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