(by Bianca Maria Manfredi)
It took three years to prepare
a new show on Albrecht Durer and the German Renaissance opening
Wednesday at Milan's Palazzo Reale through June 24.
Featuring a selection including 12 paintings, three
watercolors and 60 engravings, graphic works and books, the
exhibition will show the mutual impact of Italian and German art
in the 16th century.
It will display the works by the Nuremberg master alongside
those of contemporaries such as Lucas Cranach, Albrecht
Altdorfer and Hans Baldung Grien in Germany; and Giorgione,
Andrea Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea Solario, Giovanni
Bellini and Titian in Italy.
The painting chosen by curators as the symbol of the exhibit
'Durer and the Renaissance between Germany and Italy' is the
Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman on loan from Vienna's
Kunsthistoriches Museum - a masterwork highlighting the strong
bond connecting German and northern Italian art.
The exhibit will be opening at Palazzo Reale after a hugely
successful show on Caravaggio, which was extended until February
4 and visited by 420,000 people.
Curated by Bernard Aikema with Andrew John Martin's
cooperation, the Durer show includes six sections.
The first is dedicated to 'Durer, German art, Venice, Italy'
with two 'Venetian' masterworks - Feast of the Rosary and Christ
among the Doctors.
Another room focuses on 'Geometry, measure, architecture' as
Durer was not only a painter and engraver bur also a scholar.
The third part focuses on Nature with a selection of
landscapes and the fourth on portraits.
A separate area showcases parts of his Apocalypse, a famous
series of scenes from the Book of Revelation, likely the first
book that was illustrated and published by an artist, and the
series on the Large Passion, exhibited together with
Melancholia, Durer's most famous engraving, on loan from the
National Gallery.
The last section is on Classicism and its alternatives.
Milan's culture councilor, Filippo Del Corno, said the city
is hosting a retrospective dedicated to Durer "for the first
time".
Promoted and produced by Milan city council's culture
department, Palazzo Reale and 24 Ore Cultura, the exhibit will
also be open on Easter Sunday and Monday, April 25 and May 1.
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