Virgin and Child with an Angel, c. 1535-1539 by Francesco Salviati (1510-1563). Oil on panel, purchased in 2005 with the support of the Volunteer Circle of the National Gallery of Canada and the National Gallery of Canada Foundation Renaissance Ball Patrons, for the Gallery's 125th Anniversary. (NGC)
This major exhibition brings together over 150 exceptional paintings and drawings for the first time. Canadians can see the work of such famed artists as Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, El Greco, Vasari, Federico Barocci, Francesco Salviati, and Annibale Carracci.
As the exhibition notes state: “Together they illustrate how papal patronage, which was driven by unrivalled ambition and the need to propagate their own belief system, gave rise to one of the richest periods in art history.”
Dr. David Franklin is deputy director and chief curator of the National Gallery of Canada and an internationally renowned expert in the Italian Renaissance period. He was awarded the Star of Italian Solidarity by the government of Italy on May 28 for his contribution to the appreciation of Italian art in Canada—the only Canadian-born resident to be so honored.
Art works came from Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States as well as from Canada, England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is an unprecedented survey of art created in 16th-century Rome.
The artists in the exhibition, although not Roman-born, turned Rome into “the unrivaled cultural capital of the western world for over three centuries.”
For the exhibition, Dr. Franklin worked with co-curators Dr. Sebastian Schutze, Queen’s University; Dr. Louis Waldman, University of Texas; and Dr. Rhoda Eitel-Porter, Morgan Library & Museum, New York City.
To see the pieces is to know that Franklin and his co-curators collect art in the same spirit of devotion with which we see people collecting precious gems. Some of the most prized works include Dr. Franklin’s favorites: “Mars and Venus,” circa 1600, by Carlo Saraceni, from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, on loan from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid; the “Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, circa 1512, by Raphael, from the Samuel H. Kress Collection and on loan from the National Gallery of Art, Washington; and Annibale Carracci’s “Holy Family with Infant Saint John the Baptist,” circa 1597–1598 and on loan from The National Gallery, London, England.
Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, c. 1515 by Raphael (1483-1520). Oil on panel, from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. (Courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, Washington)
He added that another purpose of the exhibition is to present “Raphael’s ideal and elegant style as a source of inspiration to his many talented followers, as well as to portray him as a liberated master who gave birth to a seemingly endless variety of artistic forms.”
This is the third major exhibition Sun Life Financial has sponsored at the National Gallery.
Accompanying the exhibition is a 480-page catalogue with 378 illustrations. It has been published in English and in French and is co-authored by David Franklin, Ingrid D. Rowland, Sebastian Schutze, and Carlo Gasparri. More than 40 international scholars have also made contributions.
“From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome” continues until Sept. 30. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and full-time students, and $7 for youth aged 12 to 19 years. Admission is free for children under 12. For tickets, phone 613-998-8888 or 1-888-541-8888.
