(By Elisa Cecchi)
The Pushkin Museum of Fine
Arts in Moscow is hosting an exhibit on Italian Renaissance
paintings with the Madonna and Child as a common theme.
"Piero della Francesca and contemporary artists. The Marian
image in Renaissance paintings from Italy's museums," begins
Thursday and continues through February 22.
The exhibition is promoted by the Italian embassy in Moscow
to mark Italy's duty presidency of the European Union and the
Russia-Italy Cross Year of Tourism, which vies to boost tourist
flows in both countries.
The show is focused on four paintings from the second half
of the 1400s with a common inspiration - the Madonna with Child,
a holy image at the center of both Byzantine icons as well as
Italian Renaissance art.
The exhibit will particularly focus on the painting
'Madonna and Child with Two Angels', also known as the 'Madonna
di Senigallia', a late work from about 1474 by Renaissance
master Piero della Francesca.
The Sansepolcro-based artist, who died in 1492, painted in
various parts of central Italy and this work belongs to the
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino.
The stunning painting was only attributed to della
Francesca in 1854 and shows a Madonna with lowered lids and a
slightly turned head, as if she knows what lies ahead for her
child, while the baby who raises one hand in blessing.
Behind them are a pair of guardian angels, striking in a
background of timeless stillness.
Also on show will be masterworks by three of Piero della
Francesca's contemporaries: the 'Madonna and Child' by Carlo
Crivelli, the 'Madonna with Sleeping child' by Cosimo Turà and
the 'Madonna of the Red Cherubs' by Giovanni Bellini.
Bellini's painting was exhibited for one day on Tuesday at
the Italian embassy, Villa Berg, which has hosted a number of
exhibits.
Following masterworks by Raphael, Bernini, Botticelli,
Lotto, Caravaggio, Bronzino and Mantegna, the Italian embassy
will be showcasing Giovanni Bellini for the second time after
showing his 'Portrait of a Youth'.
"We have chosen Italian Renaissance art to close the
intense semester of Italian EU presidency, after discovering
over the past few years that it is incredibly appreciated by the
Russian public," said ambassador Cesare Ragaglini.
"The semester saw Italy engaged in several challenges,
first to ensure greater growth of the European economy and a
more effective fight against unemployment, especially among the
young, which has reached unsustainable levels," he added.
The ambassador said that during Italy's six months in the
rotating presidency, it has faced issues on the international
stage, from the Middle East, Libya, Syria and Iraq to Ukraine.
"Cultural relations have always been a pillar of bilateral
relations between Italy and Russia that have enabled our two
nations and populations to maintain an intense and warm dialogue
even during the most difficult phases on the international
scene," the ambassador added.
Italy will also pursue the Pushkin Museum's interest in
Italian art by bringing to Moscow other Italian masterpieces
over the next few months and years, he said.
Ambitious projects include future exhibitions on
Michelangelo as a sculptor and architect, on Caravagesque
painters and on Dante and the figurative arts on the 750th
anniversary of the medieval writer's birth next year.
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