The exhibition on Caravaggio and the Genoese in Genoa, exclusive preview photos

The exhibition Caravaggio and the Genoese was presented in Genoa’s Palazzo della Meridiana. Commissioners, Collectors, Painters, organized by the AssociazioneAmici di Palazzo della Meridiana and curated by Anna Orlando. The exhibition aims to develop an extremely important chapter in Genoese figurative culture, which, given the caliber of the protagonists involved, becomes international in scope.In this particular case, the approximately thirty works that make up the exhibition’s itinerary are intended to document the reception and dissemination of Caravaggio’s lesson in Genoa throughout the seventeenth century. The exhibition runs from February 14 to June 24, 2019.

The paintings, mostly large and of theatrical and spectacular impact, have been selected from the city’s public collections (Musei di Strada Nuova, Museo di Palazzo Reale, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Museo dellAccademia Ligustica di Belle Arti), in some cases in their storage rooms and therefore not normally visible to the public, and from numerous private collections, not only in Liguria, of those Genoese painters of the seventeenth century who at at least one moment of their careers demonstrate a strong adherence to the new Caravaggio lexicon. There are many unpublished works and canvases that have never left their home walls to be exhibited to the public.

The focus of the exhibition is Caravaggio ’sEcce Homo (Milan, 1571 - Porto Ercole, 1610), which recently returned from the just-closed Musée Jacquemart-André exhibition in Paris to be welcomed back to its city with a surprise: new studies as in-depth as never before reveal so many new features. In particular, Anna Orlando has set up Room 2 as a game of visual references and comparisons with works by Genoese artists who seem to have been inspired by this masterpiece, others who instead disregard the novelty that Merisi’s revolutionary art. Moreover, the work is presented after new studies that argue why the work, already much discussed by critics, must be accepted as a fully autograph work by Caravaggio (we will discuss this more in thethorough review to follow in the coming days).

“In the selection, which was conducted on the basis of the quality of the works,” said Anna Orlando, “we took into account the opportunity to show paintings usually kept in private collections, some of them completely unpublished, but also to choose at least one work from each of the most significant public picture galleries in the city, in order to create a link, not only ideal, of referral to the museums with which Palazzo della Meridiana has been intending to network for years.”

The commitment of the Association of Friends of Palazzo della Meridiana to offer an important exhibition of ancient art every year, emphasizes Davide Viziano, president of the Association of Friends of Palazzo della Meridiana, continues for the fourth consecutive year with a different declination of the theme thanks to the collaboration with curator Anna Orlando. A special thanks goes to the Compagnia di San Paolo, which for the third year is supporting one of our initiatives, believing in us and in our organizational abilities as well as to the Liguria Region, which supports us in the realization of the Exhibition, the Mibact and the City of Genoa. Finally, thanks to all our sponsor friends who have accompanied us in this new adventure. The chorality of this participation, on several levels and fronts, is an incentive for us to grow with more and more solid offerings, as Mary to whom we dedicate this exhibition would certainly have liked.

The art that arises from the intersection of the Caravaggesque lexicon with the Ligurian one, says Ilaria Cavo, councillor for culture of the Ligurian Region, has a special flavorthat the exhibition aims to restore in a refined selection of splendid canvases, many of them previously unpublished. They are housed in Palazzo della Meridiana, which once again offers the public an important new appointment and entrusts its curatorship to Anna Orlando. The support that Regione Liguria has been confirming for several years to the initiatives of the Associazione Amici di Palazzo della Meridiana is in line with a cultural policy that aims at the enhancement of the territory, also through the cognitive re-appropriation of a past that is so important and glorious for us, capable of being a stimulus for future generations.

The Exhibition is open Tuesday through Friday from 12 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays. Entrance fee: 10.00 (full) 8.00 (reduced), 4.00 (schools and children). Reduced admission to the Exhibition for visitors of the Strada Nuova Museums and possibility to continue the visit in the Strada Nuova Museums after admiring the works exhibited in Palazzo della Meridiana, entering with reduced ticket.

Finestre sull’Arte visited the exhibition for a preview and we offer you exclusive images of the arrangements and some of the works you will find on display. As anticipated, an accurate review will follow in the coming days.

Luca Cambiaso, Christ before Caiaphas (c. 1570-1575; oil on canvas, 188 x 138 cm; Genoa, Museo dell’Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti)

Caravaggio, Ecce Homo (c. 1605-1610; oil on canvas, 128 x 103 cm; Genoa, Musei di Strada Nuova - Palazzo Bianco)

Orazio De Ferrari, Ecce Homo (c. 1640; oil on canvas, 118 x 97 cm; Genoa, Art Collections of Banca Carige)

Bernardo Strozzi, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1620-1625; oil on canvas, 104 x 130 cm; Milan, Koelliker Collection)

Domenico Fiasella, Judith and Holofernes (c. 1620-1630; oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm; Reggio Emilia, Private Collection)

Giacomo Legi, Cat in the Pantry (c. 1630; oil on canvas, 96 x 137 cm; Private Collection)

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio and the Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

Images from the exhibition Caravaggio andthe Genoese

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