What exhibitions to see in 2019: here are the highlights of the new year

2019 promises to be full of interesting exhibitions. We list in this article the main events announced for the new year.

2019 is the year of the 58th edition of the Venice Biennale: curated by Ralph Rugoff, it will be dedicated to the theme May you live in interesting times, and the date is from May 11 to November 24.

But next year is also the year in which we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, and there are many events dedicated to the Tuscan genius. In Milan, a Leonardo-esque city by exception since Leonardo resided here for almost two decades, a schedule of dedicated insights is planned, with exhibitions at the Palazzo Reale(The marvelous world of nature before and after Leonardo, from March 4 to June 23, dedicated to the way Leonardo changed the perception and representation of nature in sixteenth-century Lombardy), at the Museo del Cenacolo (where from October 7, 2019 to January 23, 2020 will come the tapestry copy of theLast Supper executed between 1505 and 1510 on a commission from Louise of Savoy and Francis Duke of Angouleme), to the National Museum of Science and Technology (with Leonardo da Vinci Parade, an initiative showcasing historical models and frescoes by sixteenth-century Lombard painters), and to many other venues. Also intense is the program at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, where no less than four exhibitions on Leonardo are scheduled, with important focuses on the Codex Atlanticus. An important event will then be the reopening of the Sala delle Asse, the room in the Castello Sforzesco frescoed by Leonardo himself.

Florence, the city where Leonardo was trained, responds to Milan by dedicating edition number XII of the Florence Biennale, scheduled from October 18 to 27, 2019, to the Da Vinci genius: the Florentine biennial will be dedicated precisely to Leonardo da Vinci, who is being analyzed as an exemplum for contemporary creativity and as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for five centuries for artists and creative people. An exhibition on Leonardo is also planned in Rome, at the Scuderie del Quirinale: dates and details have yet to be announced.

Lastly, in Leonardo’s hometown of Vinci, the exhibition Leonardo drawn by Hollar, the first event to be held at the Rossana & Carlo Pedretti Foundation’s headquarters, is noteworthy: this is an exhibition showcasing Wenceslaus Hollar’s thirty-one engravings on Leonardo themes, rare evidence of interest in Leonardo’s drawings in the seventeenth century, never before exhibited. Alongside, also exhibited are drawings by Leonardo.

Returning to Florence, the Uffizi’s rich exhibition program is noteworthy: exhibitions dedicated to Cosimo I de’ Medici (whose 500th birth anniversary falls), Pietro Aretino, Kiki Smith, animals in fashion, wooden ceilings of the Renaissance, and Baroque carnivals.

And still on the subject of animals, a special exhibition is opening Jan. 19 in Brescia, at Palazzo Martinengo: it is titled Animals in Art. From the Renaissance to Ceruti, lasts until June 9 and displays about three centuries of animals in works of art.

On Feb. 9 it will be the turn of Ottocento. The Art of Italy between Hayez and Segantini, a major exhibition that in Forlì, at the San Domenico Museums, until June 16, aims to take stock of the entire century with a new critical reading, presenting the works of many of the great protagonists of the time.

In Rome, 2019 will bring the long-awaited exhibition on Andy Warhol at the Vatican Museums, already announced at the beginning of 2018, and there will also be an exhibition on Raphael at the Scuderie del Quirinale (dates to be confirmed) and a major exhibition on the last two decades of Picasso’s career: it will be titled Picasso 1953-1973, it will be held at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, and for the moment there are no further details.

The exhibition program in Milan is very rich: GAM celebrates Angelo Morbelli on the centenary of his death with the exhibition Morbelli (1853 - 1919) from March 15 to June 16, while from October to February 2020 it will host Antonio Canova. Ideal Heads, an exhibition dedicated to the busts of the great neoclassical sculptor. At MuDEC, from May 1 to September 8, an in-depth look at Roy Lichtenstein with the exhibition Roy Lichtenstein. Edition showcasing multiples of the great pop artist. At the Museo del Novecento, with the exhibition Lucio Fontana. Homage to Leonardo will be staged from June 14 to September 15, an unprecedented comparison between the great father of Spatialism and Leonardo da Vinci. Coming to the Palazzo Reale from Feb. 21 to June 2 is the exhibition Antonello da Messina. Inside Painting, currently underway in Palermo, while from March 9 to June 23 it is the turn of the major monographic exhibition on Ingres entitled Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Artistic Life at the Time of the Bonapartes, and from June 19 to October 6 it will be the turn of the Pre-Raphaelites with the exhibition The Pre-Raphaelites and Italy.

In Genoa, from February 14 to June 6, the appointment with the exhibition Caravaggio and the Genoese promises to be quite interesting. Patrons, Collectors, Painters, at Palazzo della Meridiana: on display are the relationships between the great Lombard master and the Ligurian capital.

Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, on the other hand, dedicates an exhibition to a great Ferrara artist: from February 16 to June 2, the exhibition Boldini and Fashion investigates the relationship between the great artist and the world of fashion.

Finally, not to be missed at the end of the year is the appointment in Mantua with "Con nuova e stravagante maniera. Giulio Romano in Mantua, a highly anticipated major exhibition on Giulio Romano.

Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus (Codex Atlanticus), folio 1069 recto. Left, tube fitted with float to allow underwater breathing; machines to lift, pump and collect water; top right, two long augers to carry river water to two towers; bottom left, bucket with siphon. Copyright Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana/Mondadori Portfolio

What exhibitions to see in 2019: here are the highlights of the new year

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