Renaissance superstars in Sweden
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael in key Swedish exhibition
19 March, 12:02
(ANSA) - Florence, March 19 - A major new exhibition
expected to draw visitors from across Europe opens in Sweden on
Saturday, bringing together work by Italy's three Renaissance
superstars: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.
The exhibition in the southwest city of Gothenburg is being
billed as once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the output of
all three great masters side-by-side in a single event.
Entitled ':And There Was Light', the Gothenburg show marks
the first stage on a six-year international tour that will
travel the globe, spotlighting masterpieces that have cost
organizers over 100 million euros to insure.
On display are 60 centuries-old artworks, as well as 17
important pieces by modern artists, among which Andy Warhol.
Among the pieces expected to draw particular interest is a
newly 'discovered' Leonardo piece.
'A Young Girl in Profile in Renaissance Dress' was for
decades believed to be the work of a 19th-century German artist
until tests revealed a 500-year-old fingerprint of Leonardo.
Carbon dating and infrared surveys confirmed the age and
style were consistent with a Leonardo work, making it the first
'new' piece attributed to the master in over 100 years.
The Gothenburg exhibition will mark the first public
display of the painting since its new identity was announced
last autumn.
':And There Was Light' is organized as a 'journey through
time', from the 21st century to the Renaissance and then back to
the present.
It uses original works to explore different techniques and
disciplines. It looks at panel and canvas paintings, loose-leaf
and manuscript drawings in science, technology and architecture,
sculpture in stone, bronze and terracotta, and various forms of
etchings.
A key aim of the event is to bring to life for modern
visitors the work of long-dead artists.A multimedia section includes reconstructions of artworks, 3D models of machinery designed by Leonardo, digital manuscripts and touch-screen perception tests, exploring the response of observers to the pieces on show. A 40-tonne block of marble has also been shipped all the way from northern Tuscany and will go on display alongside a perfect reproduction of Michelangelo's David. The block comes from the same quarries in Carrara that produced the marble for Michelangelo's original 5.17-metre-high statue and is designed to give visitors a sense of the scale of his achievement. The exhibition will also encourage the public to engage in a more direct and personal experience of art, with a series of workshops offering them the chance to try their own hand at painting and sculpture. ':And There Was Light' opens at midday on Saturday in Eriksbergshallen and runs until August 15.
