Diapositive 1 - Musée Jacquemart

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Musée Jacquemart-André
Paris
From Giotto to Caravaggio,
The passions of Roberto Longhi
At the Jacquemart-André museum
27th March – 20th July 2015
Under the patronage of His Excellency Giandomenico Magliano,
Italian Ambassador to France
The exhibition presents the great names in Italian painting, from the 14th to the 17th century, rediscovered
by one of the major figures in the history of Italian art, Roberto Longhi (1889/1890-1970). Giotto, Masaccio,
Masolino, Piero della Francesca, Ribera, and Caravaggio are among the leading artists highlighting the
exhibition. Alongside the works from the Roberto Longhi Foundation, presented for the first time in France,
will be works loaned by the biggest French and Italian museums. This exhibition is an unprecedented
dialogue between a great connoisseur and his artistic passions.
The passions of Roberto Longhi will be celebrated from 27th March to 20th July 2015 at the Jacquemart André
Museum by an exhibition of selected masterpieces from the Roberto Longhi Foundation (Florence) and
exceptional works from Italian and French museums such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palatine Gallery in
Florence, the Vatican Museums and Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. Alongside the Italian primitives,
Caravaggio and his school will figure prominently.
The exhibition commences with a section devoted to the works of Caravaggio including the celebrated Boy
bitten by a lizard from the Roberto Longhi Foundation. An emblematic artist and the main subject of Roberto
Longhi’s studies, Caravaggio revolutionised 17th century Italian painting with his powerful and naturalistic
paintings, marked by pronounced effects of chiaroscuro (light and shade). Two other works by Caravaggio are
exceptionally reunited with the Boy bitten by a lizard: The Crowning with thorns from the Collezione Banca
Popolare di Vicenza, and The sleeping Cupid from the Galleria Palatina.
In keeping with Roberto Longhi’s approach, the exhibition will compare the works of Caravaggio and those of
his imitators, showing the influence of this artist’s themes and style on his contemporaries, first in Italy and
then throughout Europe. The figures of Christ painted by his immediate successors are followed by the biblical
scenes of Carlo Saraceni (circa 1579-1620), Mattia Preti and Matthias Stomer, and by the striking apostles of
Jusepe Ribera.
Several masterpieces of Italian primitive art also recall the way in which Roberto Longhi was able to offer a
fresh look at these masters of the Renaissance avant-garde: the exhibition will bring together four major
paintings by Giotto, Masolino, Masaccio and Piero della Francesca, artists who are rarely on display in France.
This is an intense journey that reveals some of the key moments of Italian art thanks to the insight provided by
Roberto Longhi. A scholarly and passionate man, he was the personification of Erwin Panofsky’s definition of a
"connoisseur".
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THE CURATORIAL TEAM
General curator of the exhibition: the Prof. Mina Gregori.
Former student of Roberto Longhi, art historian and specialist of Caravaggio, she is the president of the
Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi (Firenze).
Associate general curator of the exhibition : the Prof. Maria Cristina Bandera.
She is the scientific director of the Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi (Firenze).
Curator of the exhibition: M. Nicolas Sainte Fare Garnot.
He is the curator of the Musée Jacquemart-André.
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THE HIGH SPOTS OF THE EXHIBITION
"In the history of art as in music, the great performers always have a style of their own. Longhi often made
me think of an energetic maestro, a Toscanini, whose precise tempo made the work shine in all of its
splendour."
André Chastel, foreword, À propos de Masolino et Masaccio, quelques faits, 1981
Roberto Longhi (1889/1890 – 1970)
Possessing an incomparable visual memory, Longhi cast a new eye
on the vast panorama of Italian painting and established new links
between ancient and modern artists. He thus offered an original
interpretation of their works and presented new perspectives in
art history. This highly personal approach allowed him to sweep
aside traditional classifications and to reconfirm the focal position
Italian painting occupies in art history. Thanks to his discoveries,
Roberto Longhi offered artists such as Giotto, Piero della
Francesca, and above all, Caravaggio a renown which remains
unchallenged to this day.
© Sutdio Sébert Photographes
A fascinating personality because of the extent of his knowledge
and his innovative approach, Roberto Longhi (1889/1890 - 1970)
rejuvenated art criticism in the 20th century. Resolutely rooted in
his time, and close to futurist artists, Roberto Longhi absorbed the
modernity of his period to understand the painters he studied,
irrespective of the position they occupied in the chronology of art.
Roberto Longhi was not only learned, he was also a fervent collector who from 1916 gathered unique
paintings by great Caravaggisti. His collection, composed of more than 250 works in Florence including the
paintings of Morandi, reveals the genius of this great art enthusiast: around Caravaggio’s famous Boy Bitten
by a Lizard are gathered the golden collection of the Italian primitives and the chiaroscuro of the greatest
European Caravaggisti. The exhibition From Giotto to Caravaggio is an invitation to discover, through a
selection of the works from his collection and a small number of other exceptional loans, the complete gamut
of Roberto Longhi’s passions.
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Giotto di Bondone (circa 1266/1267 – 1337)
A painter and architect, Giotto di Bondone was born around 1266-1267 near Florence. After having certainly
trained with Cimabue, Giotto developed a pictorial language that was to revolutionise the art of his period: he
developed a powerful narrative sense, highlighted the humanisation of sacred figures and introduced new
visual elements, such as double perspective. These stylistic innovations, which reflect a new outlook onto the
world in which the human figure plays a central role, prefigures Renaissance art. A leading artistic figure,
Giotto worked in his native region but also took on many commissions everywhere in the Italian peninsula:
Assisi, Rome, Rimini, Padua, Milan, and Naples. He trained many assistants in his studio and his fame was
such that he was lauded by writers of his period such as Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, and inspired several
generations of artists.
In 1930, Roberto Longhi proposed to attribute to Giotto four disparate panels, which include Saint John the
Baptist and Saint Lawrence belonging to the collections of the Chaalis Abbey (both are presented in the
exhibition at the Jacquemart-André Museum, in room 3), and to recompose a polyptych which is believed to
have decorated a church in Florence.
Texts written by Roberto Longhi on Giotto:
- Progressi nella reintegrazione d’un polittico di Giotto (in Dedalo, XI), 1930
- Giotto spazioso (in Paragone), 1952
Masolino (1383 – after 1435) and Masaccio (1401 – 1428)
"If ever there was an artist to emerge already prepared and resolute from the mind of Painting, that painter
was Masaccio.“
"And if I say that [Masolino] distances himself from Masaccio, it also means that this distance is measurable. I
would even say that Masolino, apart from the essential, forgets nothing that his chance meeting with
Masaccio gave him.“
"Masolino gives the impression of having more effectively forgotten his exchanges during several years with
the innovative genius of Italian painting. […] yet Masolino is not diminished by this: during those years, on the
contrary, by recovering this ease that Vasari lauded, he managed to re-assume all the fleeting experiences he
had with every exterior novelty, even of a stylistic nature - of perspective, when it dissolves into the simple,
extensive, and allusive expanse of ample narrative. “
Roberto Longhi Fatti di Masolino e Masaccio (About Masolino and Masaccio, a Few Facts), 1940:
Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini, known as Masolino da Panicale, probably started working in Florence as an
assistant of the sculptor Ghiberti; in the words of Vasari, he was "an excellent goldsmith before being a
painter". In 1423, he joined the Arte dei Medici e Speziali corporation, before painting the frescoes of San
Stefano in Empoli. The intense and delicate colourings of his compositions, which are in the same tradition as
the international Gothic style, ensure his success (Crucifixion, Vatican Museums – to see in the exhibition at
the Jacquemart-André Museum in room 4). In 1424, the rich banker Felice Brancacci commissioned him to
decorate the chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence: for this sizeable commission, he
collaborated with the young Masaccio, whose innovative spirit broke with the painting traditions of the time.
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In an analysis the style of which is both spirited and authoritative, Longhi seeks to distinguish the parts which
may be attributed to each of the artists in this huge work: Masaccio distinguishes himself though his
innovative use of perspective, the realism of his décors and the expressiveness of his figures. These
characteristics are those of a great artist of the first Renaissance, whose career was as brilliant as it was short
(Madonna and Child, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence - exhibited in room 4).
Texts written by Roberto Longhi on Masolino and Masaccio :
- Breve ma veridica storia della pittura italiana, 1914
- Fatti di Masolino e Masaccio (About Masolino and Masaccio, a Few Facts), 1940
Piero della Francesca (vers 1412 – 1492)
"The small panel of Saint Jerome and a Donor, which is in Venice today and was probably painted between
1440 and 1450, is also significant in that it shows […] the liberties Piero took when he was not hampered by
traditional requirements. It is clearly in this respect that the mystery of perspective which gives him a creative
freedom reaching far beyond the scope of his period. […] and the red roofs, the slender black twigs, the straw
belt, the small lightly marked letters on the book of Saint Jerome somehow manage to provide extreme
personal punctuations on this wide open page of magic naturalism.“
“The figures and objects painted by Piero, in comparison with Masaccio’s eager emanations, possess a
graveness of posture, a sovereign indifference, and a ritual quality reminiscent of Egyptian or Greco-archaic
bas-reliefs even though they appear to be a part of a profound dimension and swathed in a light both of which
were unknown to Antiquity. Leaving the past to embrace the future, it seems that Piero prefigures and fully
puts into practise the motto devised much later by Cézanne: "when colour achieves its richness, form achieves
its plenitude". “
Roberto Longhi, Monograph on Piero della Francesca, 1927
Born around 1412, Piero della Francesca trains in Florence, where he discovers the works of some the first
great renovators of Italian art, such as Donatello, Masaccio and Uccello. Following this training in a climate of
cultural effervescence, he develops his own very personal pictorial language, while refining his humanist
culture. In his paintings on wood as well has his frescoes he gives as much attention to light as he does to the
construction of space. His accomplished mastery of perspective and the density of his figures achieve a high
degree of harmony thanks to his palette in soft hues and the crystalline light in which he bathes his
compositions.
His talent is such that he is called on by the greatest Italian courts: in Ferrara, where for the Estes he paints
frescoes which have been lost today, and meets Pisanello, Mantegna, and Rogier Van der Weyden who
introduces him to the realism and minutia of the Northern masters; in Rimini, he decorates with frescoes the
chapel of relics of the cathedral upon the request of the military commander Sigismond Malatesta. In 1452,
he resumes work on the decoration of the Basilica of San Francesco of Arezzo where he executes his
masterpiece: the frescoes of The Legend of the True Cross. After finishing this cycle, he works for the Dukes
of Urbino, renowned for the refinement of their court.
A major figure in the revival of Italian painting in the 15th century, Piero della Francesca later influenced
many artists such as Signorelli who took inspiration from his work on space, or Perugino and Bellini who were
inspired by his work on light.
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Tommaso di Giovanni Cassai, known as Masaccio, also trained in Florence, where he familiarised himself with
the art work of Donatello and Brunelleschi. At the end of his apprenticeship, he joined the Arte dei Medici e
Speziali corporation in 1422, one year before Masolino, who was his senior by twenty years. From 1424, they
worked together on an alter piece for the church of Sant'Ambrogio in Florence, representing Virgin and Child
with Saint Anne (today in the Uffizi Gallery). But it was with the frescoes of the Brancacci chapel that their
collaboration became more intense.
For Longhi, Piero della Francesca is a key figure in the history of painting. He is the first to attribute to the
artist a central role by considering him the founder of modern colourism, which culminated with Manet and
Cézanne. In his monograph on Piero della Francesca, which is one of his most famous works, Longhi brings to
light all the modernity and freedom of the artist in his commentary on the little Saint Jerome and Donor
(Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice – exhibited at the Jacquemart-André Museum in room 5).
Texts of Roberto Longhi on Piero della Francesca :
- Essay Piero dei Franceschi e lo sviluppo della pittura veneziana (in L’Arte), 1914
- Monograph on Piero della Francesca, 1927 (édition revue en 1963)
- Piero della Francesca, Presentazione e commenti, 1956
Cosmè Tura (circa 1430 – 1495)
"So great was the genius of Tura that he must have made a name for himself and become a dominant figure
in his small country much earlier than it is commonly believed. Given the originality of his imagination, if any
similarities with his art emerge elsewhere early on, they must be understood as a reflections of him and not
the other way round.“
"His medieval ascendency gives him the conviction that painting must from the outset be made of rare and
precious materials […]: in this imaginary material composed of the most incorruptible minerals the power of
movement which breathes life into the people, the trees, and the rocks, can do nothing else but twist and
concentrate into petrified maelstroms. A stalagmitic nature, a humanity of enamel and ivory, with crystal
joints. “
Roberto Longhi, L’Officina ferrarese, 1934
Born in Ferrara around 1430, Cosmè Tura in all likelihood did his apprenticeship in Padua where he learnt the
art of Mantegna and Donatello. Upon returning to the court of Ferrara in 1457, he worked under the
patronage of Borso d'Este and Hercules 1st of Este. His compositions are full of symbols, associating formal
complexity and dramatic expressiveness (Virgin and Child with Mary Magdalene and Saint Jerome, Fesch
Museum, Ajaccio – exhibited at the Jacquemart-André Museum in room 5).
A founding figure of the Ferrara School, Cosmè Tura stands out for the "originality of his imagination": in his
Officina ferrarese, the fruit of his increasing interest for Emilian painting, Roberto Longhi dedicates a section
confirming his special role in this important laboratory of artistic experimentation.
Texts of Roberto Longhi on Cosmè Tura :
- Breve ma veridica storia della pittura italiana, 1914
- L’Officina ferrarese (The Workshop of Ferrare), 1934
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Caravaggio (1571 – 1610)
"Caravaggio discovers "the shape of shadows": a style in which at last, far from being submitted to a visual
definition of the bodies upon which it falls, light and the shadow that follows it determine the existence of the
bodies.“
Roberto Longhi, Quesiti caravaggeschi (1928-1929)
Born in 1584 in Milan, Caravaggio owes his nickname to the small town of Caravaggio in Lombardy from
where his parents originated. In 1584, he begins a four-year apprenticeship in the studio of Simone Peterzano
where he familiarises himself with Lombard realism. In 1592 the artist goes to Rome where his genius fully
emerges. Near the end of 1593, he joins the studio of Giuseppe Cesari known as Cavaliere d’Arpino, a
mannerist painter for whom he painted flowers and fruit.
Towards 1594, Caravaggio meets Cardinal Del Monte and, with the protection of this new patron, a new stage
in his career begins: he receives many public and private commissions in the Eternal City, where he paints his
greatest masterpieces. His highly personal style which opposes the conventions of mannerism with naturalist
painting, distinguishes itself with a smaller palette, his innovative use of chiaroscuro and his bold
compositions in which he reinvents profane themes (Sleeping Cupid, Galleria Palatina, Florence - exhibited in
the Jacquemart-André Museum in room 1) as well as religious themes (The Crowning with Thorns, Collezione
Banca Popolare di Vicenza - exhibited at the Jacquemart-André Museum in room 2).
In 1606, during a brawl Caravaggio mortally wounds Ranuccio Tomassoni. Condemned to death and with a
warrant for his arrest issued by the judicial authorities, he is forced to flee Rome and seek refuge thanks to
the help of his patrons in the castles of the Latium region before going to Naples in 1607. Out of reach of the
Roman judicial authorities Caravaggio experiences a period of great productivity.
A few months later, Caravaggio sets sail for Malta, where he hopes to obtain the protection of the Grand
Master of the Order of St John to obtain a pardon. Appointed as the official painter of the Order and inducted
as a knight in 1608, Caravaggio paints several large portraits, but following a scuffle during which a knight is
wounded, he is imprisoned. After escaping, he wanders throughout Sicily before returning to Naples in the
hope of obtaining a papal pardon enabling him to return to Rome. In July 1610, he sets sail for Rome after
four years in exile, but falls prey to a fever and dies in Porto Ercole before reaching his destination.
Caravaggio is at the heart of the research conducted by Roberto Longhi whose fascination for the Lombard
master lasted his entire career. The work of this revolutionary painter pervades all of Longhi’s writings, from
his thesis defended in 1911 to his last study, published posthumously.
When in 1910 he decides to write his thesis on Caravaggio, the young art historian chooses a subject long
forgotten: the work of this artist, after having been widely admired by his contemporaries, was neglected
during the 18th and 19th centuries. Caravaggio had been forgotten for a long time and the young critic was
the first to pay tribute to him and highlight the revolutionary impact of his painting.
Roberto Longhi writes many essays and articles on Caravaggio, developing the themes evoked in his thesis,
such as his famous Quesiti caravaggeschi (1928-1929).
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In this landmark essay, Longhi refers to a masterpiece by the young Caravaggio: the Boy Bitten by a Lizard
(room 1), a painting he acquired and which is the centrepiece of his Foundation. Having a keen sense of
wording, Longhi knows better than anyone else how to define Caravaggio’s style with its powerful sensual
realism and troubled dramatic atmosphere. The visual force of Caravaggio’s paintings is well expressed by
Longhi’s writing style.
Texts and Exhibition of Roberto Longhi on Caravaggio :
- Thesis on Caravaggio, under the supervision of Pietro Toesca, 1911
- Essay, Quesiti caravaggeschi, 1928-1929
- Essay, Gli ultimi studi sul Caravaggio e la sua cerchia, 1943
- The exhibition Caravaggio e i caravaggeschi, 1951 (Palazzo Reale, Milan)
- Monograph on Caravaggio, 1952
- Text, Un apice di Polidoro da Caravaggio, 1970
Mattia Preti (1613 – 1699)
Claiming the modernity of Cézanne, Longhi writes about a draping in The Prodigal Son by Mattia Preti (Palazzo
Reale, Naples): "It curves and rises, twists and falls back down, swelling and widening, it is composed in the
same way as some of Cézanne's most noble drapings. It has always seemed to me that he represented Art and
Style conferred upon this brief and delicate architecture unfamiliar to life. “
Roberto Longhi, Mattia Preti (critica figurativa pura), 1913
Little is known about the training of the young Mattia Preti, who was born in Calabria and arrives in Rome
around 1630. It is in Rome that he discovers Caravaggism which, twenty years after Caravaggio’s death was
represented by Northern artists such as Valentin of Boulogne or the Dutchman Matthias Stomer (The
Archangel Raphael and Tobit’s Family – room 8). This first influence, visible in Susanna and the Elders (room
7), was later accompanied by Preti’s interest in the Emilian culture of Lanfranco, which inspires in him ample
compositions stamped by strong luminism. His stays in Naples until 1660 allowed him to become acquainted
with the art of Ribera (Saint Thomas - room 8), another great name of Caravaggism, and especially with that
of Luca Giordano: the discovery of Giordano is decisive for Preti, who adopts a new technique with more
rapid strokes and a resolutely baroque style. He then leaves for Malta where he obtains the title of Knight of
the Order of Saint John and becomes the official painter of the Order. He receives commissions from all over
Europe and works for close to 40 years, until his death in 1699.
In 1913 one of Roberto Longhi’s first articles on ancient art is dedicated to Mattia Preti. The works of the
Calabrian painter was regaining interest at the time and we know that the early discovery of his famous
Concert of Caravaggisti composition kept at the town hall of Alba, Longhi’s native town, inspired the young
historian to write the article. In it Longhi analyses the paintings of Preti in the light of the modernity of
Cézanne and Degas, establishing links between the works of these artists who were separated in time but
linked by a subtle connection.
Texts of Roberto Longhi on Mattia Preti :
- Mattia Preti (critica figurativa pura), 1913
- Quesiti caravaggeschi, 1928-1929
- Exhibition Caravaggio e i caravaggeschi, 1951 (Palazzo Reale, Milan)
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© Sutdio Sébert Photographes
CHRONOLOGY OF ROBERTO LONGHI
1889/1890
1889/1890
Il naît à Alba, dans le Piémont. Il est le dernier des trois enfants de Giovanni, professeur de lettres à l’école
He is born
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and Wine
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avait étéainscrit
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His
date
of
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is
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to
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the
28th
janvier 1890. Il fréquente pendant cinq ans le collège Govone d’Alba.
December 1890, but Alvar González-Palacios has recently established that in
fact Longhi was born at the end of 1889 but his birth was officially registered in
1907
January 1890. He attends the Govone d’Alba secondary school for five years.
Il obtient son diplôme au lycée Gioberti de Turin. Il s’inscrit à la faculté de lettres de cette ville et fréquente le
cours d’histoire de l’art dispensé par Pietro Toesca.
1907
1910
He obtains his diploma at the Gioberti upper secondary school in Turin. He
studies literature at the university of Turin and attends the art history course
given by Pietro Toesca.
1910
He discovers with enthusiasm the pictorial innovations of Courbet and Renoir at the Venice Biennial.
1911
On 28th December, he obtains his laurea with a thesis on Caravaggio, under the supervision of Pietro Toesca.
1912
He works for La Voce and publishes his first reviews (Pater, Fromentin) and his first essay, Rinascimento
fantastico. In September he moves to Rome. Following an interview on Cosmè Tura, he obtains a scholarship
to attend the school specialised in the history of art under the direction of Adolfo Venturi.
1913
Then begins a period of intense collaboration with L'Arte, the review directed by Adolfo Venturi, while he
continues to work with La Voce, where he publishes Mattia Preti (critica figurativa pura), his first essay on
Caravaggism, and I pittori futuristi. In Rome, he starts teaching in the upper secondary schools of Visconti and
Le Tasse. During the school year of 1913-1914, he gives a history lesson in the painting of late antiquity to
Cézanne. The documents of his classes are posthumously published in Breve ma veridica storia della pittura
italiana in 1980.
His father Giovanni dies.
1914
He publishes in L’Arte the essay Piero dei Franceschi e lo sviluppo della pittura veneziana and his first book,
Scultura futurista: Boccioni, for the Libreria della Voce. He is called up for military service and is forced to call
off a trip planned in Europe; instead he explores the hinterland region of Venice.
1916
He lives in Milan with his mother and sister. He pursues his activity as a reviewer for L’Arte, where he
publishes the essay Gentileschi padre e figlia.
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1920
He conducts a Grand Tour of France, Spain and Central Europe with the collector Alessandro Contini
Bonacossi – his former comrade in arms to whom he has become an advisor – and Vittoria, Bonacossi's wife.
1922
He moves to Rome where after having obtained a university teaching diploma he gives a course at the
university from 1922-1923 entitled "Theoretical Identity and History of the Three Figurative Arts".
1924
He marries Lucia Lopresti, who had been a student of his at the Visconti Upper Secondary school and who
later becomes a novelist under the pseudonym of Anna Banti.
1927
He co-directs with Emilio Cecchi the review Vita artistica.
The Valori plastici publishing house publishes his monograph on Piero della Francesca, which is one of his
most well known works. He publishes in the pages of Vita Artistica studies on different topics, including Di
Gaspare Traversi, ‘La Notte’ di Rubens a Fermo, and Andrea del Sarto (the last article is in the Precisioni nelle
Gallerie Italiane. La Galleria Borghese).
1928
He founds with Cecchi the review Pinacotheca.
1928-1929
He publishes in Pinacotheca the Quesiti caravaggeschi, the result of the extended study of the themes
addressed for his laurea thesis.
1934
He publishes the Officina ferrarese, the fruit of his growing interest in Emilian painting, inaugurated by his
conference in Pisa dedicated to Vitale da Bologna in 1931. He wins the competitive exam for the chair in
Mediaeval and Modern Art History at the University of Bologna, where he teaches until 1949.
1935-37
He resides in Bologna.
1937
He is appointed full professor and Director General of Antiquities and Fine Arts in Rome from 1937 to 1938.
1939
With Anna Banti he moves into the Villa "Le Tasse" on the hills of Florence. With Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti he
directs the review La Critica d’Arte.
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1940
He publishes the Fatti di Masolino e Masaccio in La Critica d’Arte.
1941
He publishes the essay Arte italiana e arte tedesca, a text on the conference given in Florence as part of the
"Romanity and Germanism" cycle.
1942
He publishes the essay Carlo Braccesco at the publishing house of the National Institute of Renaissance
Studies of Milan.
1943
He is suspended from his duties at the university for having refused to serve under the Italian Social Republic.
He founds the periodical Proporzioni, inaugurated by the essay Gli ultimi studi sul Caravaggio e la sua cerchia.
1945
He resumes his job as a teacher at Bologna University.
1946
He publishes the Viatico per cinque secoli di pittura veneziana, on the exhibition Cinque secoli di pittura
veneziana organised in Venice in 1945.
1948
In Bologna he organises an exhibition on Giuseppe Maria Crespi.
1949
He is appointed to the chair of Mediaeval and Modern Art History at the University of Florence; he remains
there until 1966, at which date he reaches the age limit and ceases to teach.
1950
He founds Paragone and in the first issue publishes the article on the policies of the review, Proposte per una
critica d’arte. The Accademia dei Lincei awards him the Prize of the President of the Republic Luigi Einaudi for
Art and Poetic Criticism.
1951
At the Palazzo Reale in Milan he organises the great exhibition Caravaggio and the Caravaggisti (Mostra del
Caravaggio e dei caravaggeschi).
1952
He publishes a monograph on Caravaggio (Il Caravaggio).
1953
He organises the I pittori della realtà in Lombardia exhibition at the Palazzo Reale in Milan.
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1956
He publishes the book Il Correggio e la Camera di San Paolo a Parma.
He starts editing his Opere complete, a compilation of his writings.
1958
He organises the Arte lombarda dai Visconti agli Sforza exhibition, the conclusion to the cycle of the triptych
of Milanese exhibitions.
1970
He dies on 3rd June.
His last text, Un apice di Polidoro da Caravaggio, is published posthumously in Paragone. In accordance with
his wishes, the Art History Foundation which bears his name is created the following year (1971).
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THE MUSÉE JACQUEMART-ANDRÉ
Owned by the Institut de France, the Musée Jacquemart-André has been developed and managed by
Culturespaces since 1996.
The Musée Jacquemart-André, the home of collectors from the late 19th century, offers the public, in this
temple of art, numerous works of art bearing the most famous signatures of:
▪ Italian Renaissance art: Della Robbia, Bellini, Mantegna, Uccello, etc.
▪ Flemish painting: Rembrandt, Hals, Ruysdaël, etc.
▪ French painting of the 18th century: Boucher, Chardin, Fragonard, Vigée-Lebrun, etc.
together with significant items of furniture, indicative of Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart’s taste for the
decorative arts.
This collection, unique in terms of both its quality and the diversity of the works it contains, boasts
exceptional visitor facilities which makes it accessible to everyone. With more than 2 million visitors since it
reopened in March 1996, the Musée Jacquemart-André is one of the top museums in Paris.
The André mansion very quickly became the Jacquemart-André mansion, so great was the role which Nélie
Jacquemart was able to play in its evolution and development. This mansion and its collections appear today
as the legacy which this wealthy and childless couple, who dedicated their lives to the finest aspects of art,
wished to leave to posterity.
The beneficiary of this asset, the Institut de France, has since strived to ensure that Nélie Jacquemart’s wishes
are respected and to introduce her lovingly compiled collections to as many people as possible.
Today there are fifteen magnificent exhibition rooms, the most intimate of reception rooms, still exquisitely
decorated, occupying almost 1,000 m², which are open to visitors to the Musée Jacquemart- André.
The restoration and renovation work undertaken in 1996, with a view to reopening to the public, was
intended to make, as far as possible, the mansion feel like a home, so that visitors would find themselves
surrounded by the warmth of a living, welcoming, rather than educational, setting.
Art, the lifeblood of Édouard and Nélie André, enabled this pair of collectors to gather, in just a few decades,
almost 5,000 works, many of which are of exceptional quality. To satisfy their eclectic tastes, the Andrés were
able, with rigour and determination, to call on the greatest antiques dealers and traders, travel the world in
search of rare objects, spend considerable sums of money on masterpieces, sacrifice second-rate pieces - and
sometimes even return them to the seller - in order to be true to their criteria of excellence, which makes the
Jacquemart-André mansion a top international museum.
Like the Frick Collection in New York, the Musée Jacquemart-André combines presenting an exceptional 19th
century collectors’ house with visitor facilities which meet the expectations of people today.
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L’INSTITUT DE FRANCE
Created in 1795 in order to contribute on a non-profit basis to the renown of the Arts, Sciences and
Humanities, the Institute de France (French Institute) groups together five academies: the French Academy,
the Academy of inscriptions & belles-lettres, the Academy of sciences, Academy of fine arts and the Academy
of moral & political sciences.
At the same time, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions practicing philanthropy and
administering donations and legacies. For two centuries, it has housed foundations and awarded prizes that
play an unparalleled role in modern philanthropy. Created by individuals or companies, the Institute’s
foundations and prizes benefit from the experience of this secular institution in the areas of sponsorship and
philanthropy, as well as from the proficiency of academicians in their fields of expertise.
The Institute also owns an important artistic heritage, consisting of residences and exceptional collections of
that have been bequeathed to it since the late 19th century; in particular: the Château de Chantilly, the Musée
Jacquemart-André, the Abbey de Chaalis, the chateau de Langeais, the manoir de Kerazan as well as the villa
Kérylos.
www.institut-de-france.fr
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CULTURESPACES,
PRODUCER AND MANAGER OF THE EXHIBITION
Culturespaces produces and manages, with an ethical and professional approach, monuments, museums
and prestigious historic sites entrusted to it by public bodies and local authorities. These include the Musée
Jacquemart-André in Paris, the Ephrussi de Rothschild and Kerylos Villas on the French Riviera, the Roman
Theatre of Orange, the Château des Baux-de-Provence, the Carrières de Lumières, the Nîmes Arena, the
National Automobile and Train Museums in Mulhouse.
It is thanks to these management methods, approved by AFNOR, that Culturespaces has been awarded ISO
9001 certification for the quality of the services it provides and its successful management of cultural
heritage. Culturespaces welcomes thus more than 2 millions visitors each year.
In 20 years, in close collaboration with curators and art historians, Culturespaces has organised many
temporary exhibitions of international standing in Paris and in the regions. Culturespaces manages the
whole chain of production for each exhibition, in close collaboration with the public owner, the curator and
the exhibition sponsor: programming, loans, transport, insurance, set design, communications, partnership
and sponsorship, catalogues and spin-off products.
Today Culturespaces works with some of the most prestigious national and international museums in the
world.
Recent exhibitions organised at the Musée Jacquemart-André :
2014 Pietro Perugino, Master of Raphael
2014 From Watteau to Fragonard, les fêtes galantes
2013 Désirs & Volupté, Victorian masterpieces from the Perez Simon collection
2013 Eugène Boudin
2012 Canaletto – Guardi, the two Masters of Venice
2012 The Twilight of the Pharaohs
2011 Fra Angelico and the Masters of Light
2011 The Caillebotte brothers’ private world. Painter and photographer
2010 Rubens, Poussin and 17th century artists
2010 From El Greco to Dalí. The great Spanish masters. The Pérez Simón collection
2009 Bruegel, Memling, Van Eyck… The Brukenthal Collection
2009 The Italian Primitives. Masterpieces of the Altenbourg Collection
2008 Van Dyck
2007 Fragonard
2006 The Thracians’ Gold
2005 David, intimité et grandeur
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VISUALS AVAILABLE FOR THE PRESS TO PROMOTE THE EXHIBITION
For visuals demands, please contact Dereen O’Sullivan : [email protected]
Michelangelo Merisi, kown as Caravaggio (1571 - 1610)
Boy bitten by a Lizard
1594
Oil on canvas
65,8 x 52,3 cm
Florence, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi
© Firenze, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi
Michelangelo Merisi, kown as Caravaggio
(1571 - 1610)
The Crowning with Thorns
1602-1603
Oil on canvas
177 x 127 cm
Vicence, Collezione Banca Popolare di Vicenza
© Collezione Banca Popolare di Vicenza
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Giotto di Bondone (circa 1266/67 – 1337)
Saint John the Evangelist ; Saint Lawrence
1320
Tempera on wood
140 x 55 cm each panel
Chaalis, Abbaye royale – Institut de France
© Studio Sébert Photographes
Tommaso di Giovanni Cassai, known as Masaccio
(1401 - 1428)
Madonna and Child
Circa 1426 - 1427
Tempera and gold on wood, 24 x 18 cm
Florence, Istituti museali della Soprintendenza Speciale
per il Polo Museale Fiorentino - Galleria degli Uffizi
© Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico
ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della Città di
Firenze - Gabinetto Fotografico
Matthias Stomer (circa 1600 – after 1650)
The Archangel Raphael and Tobit’s Family
Circa 1630 - 1632
Oil on canvas
99 x 124,8 cm
Florence, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi
© Firenze, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi
Jusepe Ribera (1591 – 1652)
Saint Thomas
Circa 1613
Oil on canvas
126 x 97 cm
Florence, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi
© Firenze, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi
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PRACTICAL INFORMATION
A stone’s throw from the Champs-Elysées, the Musée Jacquemart-André presents Paris’s finest private art collection in the
setting of a grand 19th century mansion. Visit this magnificent town residence, the product of the passion of Edouard
André and his wife Nélie Jacquemart, with its stunning collection, which in particular includes major works by the great
Flemish masters, paintings of the 18th century French school and others by some of the most distinguished artists of the
Italian Renaissance.
Property of the Institut du France, the Musée Jacquemart-André is administrated by Culturespaces.
Open 365 days a year from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Late opening on Mondays until 8.30 p.m..
The tea room is open every day from 11.45 a.m. to 5.30
p.m. Brunch Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Open every Monday evening until 7 p.m.
The cultural gift and bookshop is open when the museum
is open, including Sundays.
Individuals
Full rate: 12€
Reduced rate: 10€ (students, children from 7 to 17,
jobseekers)
Exhibition audio guide: 3€
Permanent collection audio guide: free
Family rate
Pay the admission charge for two adults and one child and
the second child gets in free (7 to 17 years).
Groups
Group visits are only subject to reservation:
[email protected]
The Privilège Card (annual pass)
Solo card : 32 € / Duo card : 60 € / Jeune card : 20 €
Musée Jacquemart-André
158, boulevard Haussmann
75008 PARIS
Tel. : + 33 (0)1 45 62 11 59
www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com
R.D. 28/08/14
Metro: lines 9 and 13 (Saint-Augustin, Miromesnil ou SaintPhilippe du Roule)
RER: RER A (Charles de Gaulle-Étoile)
Bus: 22, 28, 43, 52, 54, 80, 83, 84, 93
Car park: Haussmann-Berri, at the foot of the museum, open
24h/24
Vélib’ station: rue de Berri
The temporary exhibition rooms are not accessible to people
with reduced mobility.
A museum administrated by
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