Trento, a major exhibition on the eighteenth century Veneto at the Buonconsiglio Castle

From July 2 to October 3, 2022, the Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento will host the exhibition I colori della Serenissima. Eighteenth-Century Venetian Painting in Trentino, a major exhibition dedicated to the events of the Venetian eighteenth century in Trent and its surroundings, the flagship exhibition of the castle’s summer program. The public will be able to admire it in the halls of the Magno Palazzo dei Principi Vescovi di Trento. This is the first extensive exhibition dedicated to theinfluence of Venetian art in the valleys of Trentino: seventy works, many of large dimensions, that will arrive (some will return) to Trent from museums and collections in Europe and the United States. They are paintings that adorned palaces and churches in these valleys and that time, wars, and family events have dispersed.

The curators, Andrea Tomezzoli (University of Padua) and Denis Ton (Castello del Buonconsiglio), have pursued the traces of these paintings, finally unearthing them in museums or on the international antiques market, managing to bring them together and, in some cases, reassemble them, in an exhibition where scientific research and spectacularity express a perfect union.

“The exhibition,” anticipates Laura Dal Prà, director of the Castello del Buonconsiglio, “aims to provide a picture of the presence of artists and works by Venetian masters in the Prince-Bishop’s territories or in southern Tyrol between the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, revealing an intensity of exchanges that can be well understood for historical reasons, for reasons of taste, for the interests and cultural formation of the patrons, and for the relations that the local communities had with the main centers of the Venetian Republic.”

The proximity to the territories of the Serenissima inevitably led to a series of very close ties, according to “routes” traveled in a twofold direction: on the one hand with the arrival of works of art sent from Venice or with the presence of Venetian artists in Trentino; on the other hand with training sojourns of painters from the Episcopal Principality in the two main centers of the Venetian Republic, namely the capital and Verona. It is, in fact, relevant the power of attraction exercised throughout the century by the Veronese School, which in 1764 organized itself into a real Academy of painting, officially recognized and led by the authoritative personality of Giambettino Cignaroli. But multiple factors contributed to corroborate these exchanges, leading to a situation as complex and stratified as ever. Several territories of the Principality of Trentino were, for example, subject to the religious authority of the Venetian bishops, not to mention that entire communities moved to Venice from Trentino, then the interests in the Trentino area of some important families, the Giovanelli in particular, enfeoffed in Valsugana from 1662. A context that transformed the episcopal principality and its territory into a crossroads of experiences that marked its artistic climate, making it a fertile ground for comparison and growth, even for local artists.

“The exhibition,” emphasizes Denis Ton, “constitutes an opportunity to broaden the gaze and tie together with a red thread the works on the territory of artists such as Fontebasso or Giambattista Pittoni and Gaspare Diziani. Over all takes prominence the presence of Antonio and Francesco Guardi, undisputed protagonists of the Venetian late eighteenth-century painting season, but with their own family roots in Val di Sole, where they would return several times.”

Castello del Buonconsiglio this morning also presented the rest of the program for the second part of 2022. In addition to the exhibition on the Venetian eighteenth century at the main venue, there will in fact be three other exhibitions that will enliven the summer of the provincial castles: at Castel Stenico from June 11 to November 6, Rembrandt’s graphic masterpieces, a collection of engravings made by Rembrandt and coming from the Lazzari Turco Menz collection, donated in 1924 to the Trento City Hall, and preserved at the Buonconsiglio Castle, will be on view. The exhibition illustrates the Dutch master’s graphic work: of the many sheets in the museum’s collection related to him, sixteen examples are pulled from Rembrandt’s original plates and with watermarked papers that confirm their authenticity and dating, such as The Death of the Virgin or The Self-Portrait of 1633.

At Thun Castle, an exhibition entitled A Kiss Between Two Worlds will be on view from the end of June. The sculptural group of Atala and Chactas by Innocenzo Fraccaroli, dedicated to the sculpture that immortalizes the kiss between Atala and Chactas, one of the most successful figurative interpretations of the fabula that sprang from the genius of Chateaubriand. In the French colony of Louisiana, the young indigenous warrior Chactas is captured by a tribe hostile to his own. In the village where he is held captive lives Atala, a Native American convert to Christianity. A passion arises between them, but the young woman has consecrated her virginity to the memory of her mother. Realizing that she cannot resist Chactas, with whom she has fallen in love, Atala ingests poison, which soon leads to her death.

Finally, at Castel Caldes from June 16 to October 9, the photographic exhibition Man and Mountain with shots from theMagnum agency will be on view. After last year’s project Vite di corsa dedicated to the relationship between the famous photographers of the Magnum Photos agency and cycling, the Castello del Buonconsiglio, monuments and provincial collections with the Azienda per il Turismo delle Valli di Sole, Peio e Rabbi and the Municipality of Caldes intend to promote a new exhibition focused this year on the relationship between mountains and art photography. The Magnum authors return as protagonists through an initiative that will be developed in two moments and will involve the entire territory of the Val di Sole with an exhibition project in its entirety unprecedented. The first moment, which will be located at the Caldes Castle and will be inaugurated in June, will offer an extraordinary tale in images dedicated to the mountains through the sensibility of authors such as Werner Bischof, Steve Mc Curry, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Capa and many others. A second moment is a commissioned assignment to renowned photographer Paolo Pellegrin to produce a new reading of extraordinary intensity of the mountains and communities of Val di Sole. This work, which will be carried out in the spring, will then find concrete form in the construction of an astonishing high-altitude outdoor exhibition itinerary that will unfold in the valley and give an exciting account of the essence of these mountains and its people through one of the great authors of the Magnum agency.

Summer in the manors will also be made up of events, musical concerts, theatrical tours, appointments for adults and children, family workshops, and some events realized in collaboration with the Santa Chiara Cultural Services Center and the Coordinamento Teatrale trentino. At Castel Beseno, the All ’armi All’armi event will return after a two-year stop due to the pandemic, in addition to the usual historical reenactments with armigers, falconry will return to Castel Stenico, at Castel Caldes theamore cortese while at Buonconsiglio the Cinema all’aperto will return with films related to the theme of the summer exhibition that is the 18th century, the choirs of the Federazione Cori del Trentino will be present with the review Incanto a castello.

Trento, a major exhibition on the eighteenth century Veneto at the Buonconsiglio Castle

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