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Neoclassicism
in Italy from Tiepolo to Canova
The
idea for this exhibition was given by the long awaited
restoration of Palazzo Reale, which during the Eighteenth
underwent a renovation that involved all the arts. The
exhibition sets out to present a detailed course of the artistic
phenomena that, with their complex relations, characterised the
Italian courts during the age of reforms.The exhibition includes
masterpieces of painting and sculpture, but also drawings and
other decorative arts which together trace the emergence of a
new historical sensibility in Rome during the mid-Eighteenth
century, as well as the increasingly popularity in the last
decade of the century of a style dictated by the famous artist
Antonio Canova. The exhibition deliberately juxtaposes
masterpieces of mature Baroque art, the greatest exponent of
which was arguably Tiepolo, with works by grand masters of the
neoclassical style: the aim is to illustrate the passage from
the baroque figurative style to a new artistic era. Italy
enjoyed a privileged position during the neoclassical period,
becoming the living as well as symbolic centre of an artistic
movement characterised by the study and revival of history. The
Italian artistic scene was enriched by foreigners, exponents of
European Neoclassicism, from Mengs to David, from Angelica
Kauffmann to Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. This artists' movement was
also furthered by the policies of enlightened sovereigns who,
engrossed in making their courts a reflection of the style of
the age, commissioned increasing quantities of royal works. The
historical style conjured up Rome and the great masterpieces of
classical sculpture, present not only in the vedutas of Panini,
with the portrayal of regal, perfect "museums", but
also in objects of applied art. Bernardo Bellotto and Hubert
Robert allowed themselves to be guided through the ruins of
ancient Rome, but also Naples, Paestum and Sicily by a sort of
spirit of ancient times, with the help of Latin texts. There
were three easily recognizable genres: religious painting,
mythological painting and historical painting. The first of
these is represented by the Baroque virtuosity of Tiepolo, the
second by the representations of the most fascinating
mythological legends by Appiani and Canova, the third by the
painting inspired by reason and Raphaelesque rules by Mengs. A
significant number of these works on mythological themes by
Canova are present in the final part of the exhibition, in the
Sala delle Cariatidi. The deified sculptor, considered the last
great artist of the Italian tradition, closes the superb
exhibition with a collection of great sculptures, the
breathtaking series of bas-reliefs and temperas, which can be
seen here together for the first time. The exhibition's
scientific committee is made up of experts in the various fields,
namely Liliana Barroero, Enrico Colle, Fernando Mazzocca,
Alessandro Morandotti, Claudio Poppi and Stefano Susinno.
Il
Neoclassicismo in Italia da Tiepolo a Canova
from 27 February to 28 July 2002
Milan, Palazzo Reale, piazza Duomo 12
Opening times: every day 9.30 am-7.30 pm, Thursday 9.30 am-11.00
pm, closed Mondays
telephone 02392261
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