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Since Italy has over half of the artistic masterpieces in the world, you probably already
have a list a mile long of "must-see" artistic treasures. But sometimes there are special shows
that are just as unique and unrepeatable, so we hope you can fit one or more of them in!
America
! Stories of Painting from the New World (through May 4, 2008 at Museo
di Santa Giulia, via Musei 85, Brescia, open Monday-Thursday 9am-7pm, Friday-Sunday 9am-8pm, closed December
24, 25 and 31, open January 1 11am-7pm). What a courageous undertaking, to present 19th-century American artists
to an Italian audience! And what a superb success this show will be! Gathering an astounding collection of
masterpieces from museums all over the USA, ranging from Singer Sargent portraits to the huge landscapes of
Bierstadt and Church and Moran, to the seascapes and domestic scenes of Winslow Homer and Whistler, to the
evocative Wild West of Frederic Remington, the show's seven salons hold 250 paintings, 80 priceless photographs,
10 sculptures and 60 objects including clothing, moccasins, saddles, feather headdresses, Buffalo Bill's posters
and more. Once again the Museo di Santa Giulia has come up with a very good reason to make a detour to Brescia.
Sebastiano
del Piombo (through May 18, 2008 at Museo di
Palazzo Venezia, Via del Plebiscito 118, Rome, open daily 10am-8pm, Fridays and Saturdays also until 10pm).
Sebastiano Luciani, nicknamed "Del
Piombo" for posterity, was a contemporary of Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. Although he is less known
today, Sebastiano's exquisite compositions, monumental forms and deep, rich colors earned him wild success
during his lifetime. Incredibly, this is the absolute first retrospective of works by the artist, who lived
from 1485 to 1547. It includes 80 masterpieces and drawings on loan from around the world.
Miro':
The Earth (through May 25, 2008 at Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, open Sunday-Thursday
9am-8pm, Fridays and Saturdays, 9am-10pm). This is the first major Miro' show in 25 years, and it specifically
explores themes of the earth, in works ranging from 1918 to 1980. The 80 pieces, including paintings, drawings,
collages, assemblages, sculptures and lithographs on loan from around the world, offer a fascinating insight
into the Catalan master's deep attachment to the rural world, its people and their traditions. Starting with
the early representative works, the show progresses through the avant-garde period into the artist's well-known
abstract phase.
Guido
Cagnacci: 17th-Century Protagonist Between Caravaggio and Reni (through June 22, 2008 at
Musei San Domenico, Piazza Guido Da Montefeltro, Forli', open Tuesday-Friday 9:30am-7pm, Saturdays and Sundays
and June 2, 9:30am-10pm). Although he is not a modern superstar, the Italian painter Cagnacci was well-known
during his lifetime, both for his extravagant personal life and his spectacular talents. Deeply religious
yet prone to violence and lust, he moved from city to city and patron to patron, often accompanied by a bevy
of his gorgeous models (who dressed as men to alleviate at least part of the scandal). The 90 works in this,
the first retrospective ever staged in Italy, demonstrate why the artist's contemporaries considered him an
unparalleled master of the female form. Flanking his works are many by Guido Reni, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi,
Caravaggio, Lanfranco and Guercino. Well worth a side trip to this sleepy village in eastern Romagna.
La Belle Epoque: Art in Italy 1880-1915 (through July 13, 2008 at Palazzo Roverella, Via Giuseppe
Laurenti, Rovigo, open Tuesday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturdays 9am-9pm, Sundays 9am-8pm). The forty years covered
by this exhibit were for Europe a delightfully carefree time filled with unlimited faith in the future, vast
sums of money, and countless beautiful women. Electricity had obliterated the gloom of nighttime, and members
of high society took advantage of every moment to enjoy themselves. The 110 works in this show, by many of
the greatest artists of the time, recreate the hedonistic atmosphere of a continent not yet aware of the horrors
soon to be played out on the battlefields of World War I. If you want to see what high society Italian life
was like at the turn of the 20th century, head for the charming Veneto village of Rovigo.
Pinturicchio (February 2-June 29, 2008 at Galleria Nazionale dell'Arte, Palazzo
dei Priori, Perugia, open February 2-March 30 9:30am-7pm and March 31-June 29 9:30am-8pm). Celebrating the
550th birthday of a leading Renaissance painter who is also considered the symbol of Perugia, this show inaugurates
the newly restored rooms of the museum. Numerous masterpieces that are normally spread across the globe will
be on display here, and there will be smaller auxiliary shows throughout the region of Umbria.
Rome and the Barbarians (through July 20, 2008 at
Palazzo Grassi, Campo San Samuele 3231, Venice; open daily 9am-7pm). The event focuses on the Roman Empire's
most difficult age, when people of profoundly different cultures and traditions from the steppes of Asia and Eastern
Europe gradually began to dominate the Western world, leading to the fall of Rome. On
show is a vast collection of archeological finds that covers the various phases of coexistence and conflict
between the empire and barbarian populations. Click
here for the web site.
Our list is anything but complete: if you know of other exhibitions or events you think people should hear about, please drop us a line.