Genoa, the National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola acquires a splendid masterpiece by Bernardo Strozzi

The new acquisition of the National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola in Genoa will be officially presented on May 30, 2018: it is a splendid masterpiece by Bernardo Strozzi (Genoa, 1581 - Venice, 1644), theAllegory of Painting. The work was purchased by the Ministry of Culture to be destined precisely for the Genoese museum: thus, the institution’s collection will be expanded with a work of great value. The acquisition falls on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the donation of Marquis Franco and Paolo Spinola, who decided to donate their marvelous home, and with it the collections, to the State: the celebrations of the anniversary of the foundation will kick off already on the 29th at 5 p.m., when there will be a meeting in the museum held by Anna Melograni and dedicated to the then superintendent Pasquale Rotondi, who initiated the project with which the future National Gallery would be born.

On the 30th there will be, as mentioned, the presentation of theAllegory of Painting: the appointment is at 5 p.m. and Farida Simonetti and Gianluca Zanelli, directors respectively of the National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola and the National Gallery of Liguria, will be present. On the 31st, at 11 a.m., there will be a conference covering various aspects related to the museum with the presentation of a volume on Spinola monuments. Concluding at 4:30 p.m. will be a concert by violinist Joaquín Palomares and pianist Cinzia Bartoli, who will perform pieces by Mozart and Brahms (the concert is organized by the Associazione Amici del Carlo Felice and the Conservatorio “Nicolò Paganini” in collaboration with the Associazione Musicale Dioniso).

TheAllegory of Painting thus becomes the seventh work by Bernardo Strozzi in the Gallery’s collection. It was executed around 1635, during the period of the Venetian sojourn, and shows a florid woman typical of the figurative repertoire of the “Genoese Priest” (nickname by which Bernardo Strozzi is known), while holding the typical tools of the painter’s activity: the brushes and palette with the left hand, the canvas with the right. Arriving on the market in the 1970s, the painting went around several private collections before being purchased by the state: the public got to see it in 1995, on the occasion of the major exhibition on Bernardo Strozzi that was held precisely in Genoa, at Palazzo Ducale. “The new painting, characterized by an extraordinary quality of execution and a succession of full-bodied, textured, mellow brushstrokes of exquisite workmanship,” the presentation reads, “will allow the presence of works by the Genoese priest to be expanded within the tour of the Pellicceria mansion, where six other works by the Capuchin are historically kept: the Female Portrait, Ecce Homo, Christ Carrying the Cross, Our Lady of Sorrows, Joseph Explaining Dreams (created by the painter with the collaboration of his workshop) and Rebecca, Isaac and Jacob, which have converged over the years in the prestigious collection preserved here and on this occasion are presented in a specific thematic in-depth tour.” For more information you can visit the museum’s website.

Image: Bernardo Strozzi, Allegory of Painting (c. 1635; oil on canvas, 130 x 94 cm; Genoa, National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola)

Genoa, the National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola acquires a splendid masterpiece by Bernardo Strozzi

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