The light of the Baroque on display in Ariccia: a review with paintings from Roman collections

The exhibition Luce del Barocco (Light of the Baroque) is on view at Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia until January 10, 2021. Paintings from Roman Collections.

Produced by the European Center for Tourism and Culture in Rome and in collaboration with the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia and the Municipality of Ariccia itself, the exhibition focuses on the theme of light in this particular moment that we are living, it wants to express hope and rebirth, after months of seclusion and forced segregation. Light has always had a symbolic value connected to birth, to awakening after the night, to the resurrection of nature after the winter, and for Catholicism to a message of hope of eternal life aroused by following the message of Christ. The Baroque therefore was considered by dagòo prgamozzatpro the most suitable style to convey an optimistic message of human and social redemption after the Pandemic.

Presented in the exhibition is a selection of important paintings by great artists from private Roman collections, most of them unpublished or never exhibited to the public. The exhibition also aims to encourage and promote collecting, as a cultural agent of research renewal, an economic engine of the sector and a means of enriching public collections, where private collections often flow through bequests and donations.

Works by Bernini and his circle are exhibited, along with paintings by Giovanni Baglione, Mattia Preti, Agostino Tassi, Gaspar Dughet, Sebastiano Conca, Pierre Subleyras and other masters of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, offering a broad overview of Roman painting for nearly two centuries.

The exhibition is divided into various pictorial genres, including portraits, figure painting with sacred and profane subjects, landscapes, views and still lifes. Leading motif: Light as an expressive, formal and symbolic motif.

The event, through educational panels and the catalog, will also offer an overview of Acea’s action in the enhancement of our cultural heritage. In fact, the exhibition itinerary will also feature photographic images of the most important historical-artistic sites, works and archaeological monuments in Rome related to the theme of the Exhibition and which are illuminated by the Company.

Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, designed by Bernini for the family of Pope Alexander VII, was deemed the most suitable place to host such an exhibition, as it is home to the Roman Baroque Museum and one of the most important Baroque residences inItaly.

Ariccia itself, transformed by Bernini into an ideal Baroque city, preserves many works related to this style. The Collegiate Church of the Assumption, a masterpiece of Bernini’s maturity, where physical Light and divine Light form a unity in a symbolic key, is a concrete expression of the salvific value of Grace.

For all information you can call +39 06 9990053, send an email to info@palazzochigiariccia.it or visit the official website of Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia.

Pictured: Giovanni Battista Benaschi, Death of Saint Joseph (England, Private Collection)

The light of the Baroque on display in Ariccia: a review with paintings from Roman collections

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.