the exhibition captions

Transcription

Florence
Palazzo Strozzi
24 September 2015
24 January 2016
Curated by
Lucia Mannini, Anna Mazzanti,
Ludovica Sebregondi, Carlo Sisi
Panels written by
Lucia Mannini, Anna Mazzanti, Ludovica Sebregondi
Captions written by
Ludovica Sebregondi
The exhibition analyses and sets in context
a full century of modern religious art
stretching from the 1850s – when the Roman
Catholic Church actively encouraged the
most innovative forms of artistic expression
– to the mid-20th century. Showcasing the
best examples of that art to have been
produced in Italy and abroad, in alternating
thematic and narrative sections, it highlights
the dialogue and the ties between art
forms which were frequently very distant
from one another, with sweeping new
takes on modernity, differing trends and
occasionally even clashes of expression in
the relationship between art and religious
sentiment.
From Salon
to Altar
The visitor is greeted by large paintings
of the highest quality testifying to the
eclecticism prevailing in styles and
approaches to the theme of the sacred
in the second half of the 19th century. The
altarpiece continued to be a major medium
for formal experimentation between 1848
and 1870, one of the most interesting
workshops in this connection being
Tuscany whose churches hosted work by
the most up-to-date artists. Reflecting
the pope’s inclination, sacred art favoured
the historical approach. Pius IX (1846–78)
actively campaigned for religious painting
to embrace the naturalistic, narrative
style of historical painting then in vogue,
inaugurating the Gallery of (contemporary)
Saints and the Beatified in the Vatican
Museums in 1869. The gallery was further
extended by his successor Leo XIII
(1878–1903). One of the most outstanding
examples of this trend is the preparatory
sketch for Cesare Fracassini’s large canvas
depicting the Martyrs of Gorcum, while
Bouguerau’s Flagellation caused a stir when
the artist allowed aesthetic considerations
to prevail over the dramatic austerity
traditionally associated with the subject.
4
Antonio Ciseri
(Ronco sopra Ascona 182–
Florence 1891)
The Maccabees
1857–63
Oil on canvas; 463.5 x 265.5 cm
Florence, Church of Santa Felicita
The first study in oil for this
picture, in 1855, was followed by
numerous preliminary drawings
before the final cartoon was
ready in March 1857. In July of
that year, Ciseri (who was by no
means new to religious works)
began to paint what he called
“not a historical painting but a
picture for veneration, for the
altar.”
Cesare Fracassini
(Rome 1838–1868)
The Martyrs of Gorcum
1867
Oil on canvas; 96 x 71 cm
Private collection
This is a sketch for a picture
painted to mark the canonisation
of the Franciscan martyrs of
Gorcum, a Dutch Catholic town
captured by the Calvinists in
1572. The picture was acquired
for the Gallery of Saints and
the Beatified that Pius IX had
built to display works of art
commissioned to celebrate
canonisations, and as a
propaganda tool in an Italy now
secular following its unification.
5
Domenico Morelli
(Naples 1826–1901)
The Fall of Saint Paul
1876
Altamura, Cathedral of Santa
Maria Assunta
The painting was commissioned
as part of a restoration scheme
to bring the cathedral into line
with the new figurative and
liturgical requirements of a now
united Italy. Altarpieces were
commissioned from famous
painters close to European
naturalism. Morelli sets the scenes
in a Palestine that is “at once
dreamlike and realistic.”
6
William-Adolphe
Bouguereau
(La Rochelle 1825–1905)
Flagellation of Jesus Christ
1880
La Rochelle, Musées d’art et
d’histoire de La Rochelle
This painting by Bouguerau – a
leading Academician who studied
the work of the Carracci and
Roman architecture in Rome –
was faulted at the 1880 Salon for
imbuing the Flagellation with the
mood of a typical Salon picture,
thus causing aestheticism to
prevail over a sense of drama.
Gustave Moreau
(Paris 1826–98)
Saint Sebastian
1870–5 or 1890
Paris, Musée Gustave Moreau
Giuseppe Catani Chiti
(Prato 1866–Florence 1945)
The Saviour
1900
Oil and gold on wood
147/175 x 172 cm
Siena, Basilica of San Francesco
The figure of Saint Sebastian, a
model of beauty and ambiguous
sensuality, allowed Symbolist
painter Moreau to imbue a sacred
theme with the nervous mix of
aestheticism and spirituality that
was such a mark of his style. The
saint’s heroic stance and hieratic
gaze echo the archaic features
that the artist had assimilated
in his study of the early Italian
painters.
Catani Chiti transcended Ingres’
Purism with Pre-Raphaelite
elements, his take on the Middle
Ages and Renaissance moulded
by Symbolism and by a nervous
spirituality receptive to the
esotericism of the Rosicrucians.
For the frame, gilded by
Gioacchino Corsi, the Falusi
brothers sought their inspiration
in Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration
of the Magi.
7
Rosa
mystica
At the turn of the century the theme of the
Virgin acquired special significance as the
Symbolist aesthetic began to take hold,
artists imbuing the image with their strong
aspiration to asceticism. Some, eager to
render the ideal nature of the theme in
the “modern style”, composed work that
was stylistically and iconographically in
line with the latest trends in European
art. The section includes works that are
wholly of the 20th century, testifying to the
manner in which certain artists embraced
the theme wholeheartedly (seeking their
inspiration both in the Virgin’s humanity
and in her divinity), alongside free and
often bold interpretations. There was no
lack of personal and at times downright
controversial approaches to the theme, such
as that of Edvard Munch whose Madonna
was one of the most provocative images
of Mary to emerge in the course of the 19th
century.
8
Domenico Morelli
(Naples 1826–1901)
Mater Purissima
1879–83
Rome, GNAM - Galleria Nazionale
d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Morelli’s religious painting,
forged in a Realist environment,
turned interest in naturalism into
spiritualism both by looking to
the Near East and by adopting
a “states of mind” approach.
Reflecting a Symbolist sensitivity,
the artist sublimates form in an
evanescent application of colour.
Edvard Munch
(Løten 1863–Ekely 1944)
Madonna
1895–1902
Lithograph; 708 x 500 mm
Private collection
The two engravings are
lithographic interpretations of
one of Munch’s most famous
works, Madonna, a subject to
which he devoted also drawings
and paintings on canvas. The
Virgin’s facial expression merges
erotic extasy with agony, while
the sliver of a moon over her
head calls to mind a halo.
9
Edvard Munch
Madonna II
1895–1902
Lithograph, hand-colored
605 x 445 mm
Private collection
Spermatozoa on the frame
swim towards a fetus whose
skeletal head, reminiscent of
that in The Scream, alludes to
the cycle of birth and death.
Munch considered the moment of
fertilisation to be sacred. Far from
betraying any sacrilegious intent,
the picture points up Munch’s
interest in searching for common
ground between Christianity and
Freud’s approach to sexuality.
Adolfo de Carolis
(Montefiore dell’Aso 1874–Rome
1928)
Madonna, Praise be to You for the
Light You Shed on Earth
1900
Oil and plaster relief decorations
with gold leaf on cardboard
70.8 x 90 cm
Private collection, courtesy Enrico
Gallerie d’Arte, Milan
In his first religious painting De
Carolis sought inspiration for his
composition in the Florentine
artists of Benozzo Gozzoli and
Fra Angelico’s era, for his faces in
Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican
and for his relief decoration
in Pinturicchio’s work, but he
also turned to Pre-Raphaelite
symbolism for the divine
apparition as a mystic vision
inspired by the Dolce Stil Novo.
10
Adolfo Wildt
(Milan 1868–1931)
Mary Gives Birth to Christian
Infants
1918
Plaster; 83 x 65 x 9 cm
Venice, Fondazione Musei Civici
di Venezia, Galleria Internazionale
d’Arte Moderna di Ca’ Pesaro
Echoing the painting of the 14th
and 15th centuries, Wildt’s Virgin
is a synthesis of the medieval
Dream of the Virgin and the
iconography of Bergognone’s
Virgin of the Veil in the Brera
Gallery and Pisanello’s Madonna
of Humility. The Virgin is the
source both of the new life she
has borne and of Man who will be
redeemed by her Son’s sacrifice,
to which the bunches of grapes
on branches allude.
Libero Andreotti
(Pescia 1875–Florence 1933)
Madonna with Child
1923
Pietraforte; 89 x 43 x 31 cm
Andreotti shows the Christ Child
blessing, His humanity extolled
by a tender, touching gesture.
Following Denis’ example, the
artist portrays acquaintances in
some of the figures, yet we can
also detect 14th and 15th century
sources – in the Virgin’s slender
hands and the putto inspired
by Donatello – embellished with
golden highlights.
11
Tullio Garbari
(Pergine Valsugana 1892
–Paris 1931)
Our Lady of Peace
1927
Oil on wood; 90.5 x 70 cm
Trento, Museo Diocesano
Tridentino
The panel, dated 1927 (the year
the artist resumed painting)
merges Primitivism with a
renewed interest in Classical art,
the two stylistic trends that were
to polarise Italian art of the 20th
century. The painting combines
sacred Motherhood seated
on a tree, almost a tribute to
Segantini, with the simplicity of
Douanier Rousseau’s work.
12
Life
Si
sulis,
of Christ:
viverra?
The
Annunciation to the
Virgin Mary,
Nativity and
Childhood of
Christ
Si sulis, viverra? Vali, Catus orentiliena, sa
consules ne publis ia ati sendeps, Cateriam
inprehenatis caellem hos intia dis tuam tam
ut face nestrac igna, maxim hoc tusquidemus,
imo et Catquam est? P. Us senducitum, quam
me deessimum aur. Si ta ex nest vivehebatere
nertea re, quam ina nonsus, nondam manum
factod diussus fectum seniqua mentem orum
supplic
aelartere
dercesis
adhusciis
er inclus;
The central
sections
of the
exhibition
follow the
nonsisuloc remod auror hos C. Vivatudes erit
Gospel story, the exhibits for each individual theme
nos, ne optis Multoraecret Catque hebemus
being displayed in chronological order. The life of
abem optia quam ut veremura nonsuntem
Christ
is the
underpinning
the section,
nimmove,
dit leitmotif
ocupios, C.
Urbite alissimpost
starting
with
the
Annunciation
to
the
Virgin Mary:
L. Serritimmo tebatio rtimus, nonc tes virisqu
while
Segantini
and Previati
adopted
a Divisionist
amquem
vatio uteatus.
Mulegernium
publiss
style
their ssincus
depiction
of etinatqua
the sacred,
Galileo Chini
iliureviniviribe
volus
dertuam
inprist? Econsulii
consus
created
a humanpribefa
settingceruntimo
for the Annunciation
and
convemquita Cupior
quid
atumeri
butem. Maurice
conferred
symbolic
value
on nature.
Ignare
publin
vituus?
Denis, is
forperum
his part,
sought
hisint.
inspiration in the
Solin tus
essum
aucto adhuit,
quondum
dium
work
of Fra
Angelico,
thus offering
both
a stylistic
pote consust ionsultuus fuit di seremurnu cone
model and a model of the perfect Christian artist.
con se nonditam mo idem itua cont? Tatius,
The cultural climate of the 1930s also spawned new
omnihillerei is, octandiis. Sermius maximili,
interpretations
of thehictemuspio,
theme, exemplified
here by the
moena, norum nonsil
sente vius;
work
of Andreotti
and
Capogrossi.
nostercerfex
seropop
ublicae
quoniquem, notiThe
of the Gospels
squidnarrative
dii probsenatus
se in tamcontinues
publius, sewith
con the
Nativity
and
Childhood
of Christ,
illustrated
tri coerisq
uodicat,
obus fitabus,
videtor
tide- in works
tima,
factorte,
nos ficaed
caturemque
inati iaeof the
of
differing
styles.
Between
the beginning
intem is imust
cupio
te hilicaet,
orum
century
and the
1930s
the image
ofniquons
the Holy Family
ignaribuntis
num deris cuperfi
caudenihilis
shifted
fromsaSymbolism
and Divisionism
to Futurist
Catiusa
iusa
painter vene
Fillia’s
aerodynamic forms.
13
Giovanni Segantini
(Arco 1858–Schafberg 1899)
The Annunciation of the New
Word
1896
Pencil, dark chalk, white
highlighting on beige paper
44.7 x 33 cm
Sankt Moritz, Segantini Museum
Segantini was bound to a vision
of nature, his chief muse, which
he depicted using the Divisionist
technique with a sensitivity
at once spiritual and secular.
His visionary Symbolism turns
the message to Mary that she
has conceived into a pandean,
pantheistic announcement,
the angel above the Virgin
representing the spread of the
new Word.
Vittorio Corcos
(Livorno 1859–Florence 1933)
Annunciation
1904
Fiesole, Convent of San
Francesco, Provincia Toscana di
San Francesco Stimmatizzato,
Ordine dei Frati Minori
A rare example of a religious
work by Corcos, who was busy
with major portrait commissions
at the time. The worldly nature of
his painting emerges here in the
greater attention he devotes to
the dreamy figure – his daughter
Maria Luisa, whose beauty
echoed that of the Orientalist
painting of the period – than to
the religious message.
14
Galileo Chini
(Florence 1873–1956)
Annunciation
c. 1906
Oil on plywood; 146 x 276 cm
Private collection
Chini cites Millet’s Angelus, of
which he had a reproduction in
his workshop, but for his Tuscan
landscape he looks to Segantini’s
Divisionist mountains which have
the same religious significance.
His figures echo the work of
Fra Angelico, whose idealised
settings engendered a revival
reflected also in the painting’s
“predella” format.
Gaetano Previati
(Ferrara 1852–Lavagna 1920)
Annunciation
1907–12
Milan, Galleria d’Arte Moderna
Previati renewed the vocabulary
of sacred art in the late 19th
century both with Divisionism
and by looking beyond a mere
repetition of the past. His figures’
features, never very pronounced,
dissolve here in light, immersed
in the transfiguration of a thready
Divisionism whose primary aim
was to convey sentiment.
15
Glyn Warren Philpot
(London 1884–1937)
Angel of the Annunciation
1925
Oil on canvas
112 x 87 cm
Brighton & Hove, The Royal
Pavilion & Museums
Philpot, who converted to
Catholicism in 1905, sought
freedom from dogmas and
models for his erudite style
inspired both by old masters and
by his contemporaries.
His acrobatic angel, reminiscent
of Lotto, Pontormo or Rosso
Fiorentino, lands in an English
cottage and offers an anemone
to the observer cast in the role of
the Virgin Mary.
Maurice Denis
(Granville 1870–Paris 1943)
Annunciation at Fiesole
1928
Oil on canvas; 65.3 x 92 cm
Private collection
Libero Andreotti
(Pescia 1875–Florence 1933)
Toeplitz Annunciation
1931
Bronze
The Virgin Annunciate
159 x 62.5 x 32 cm
Herald Angel
171 x 60 x 56 cm
Florence, Galleria d’arte moderna
di Palazzo Pitti
In October 1931, the two figures
enter the library of the Villa
di Bellosguardo belonging to
banker Ludovico Toeplitz de
Gran Ry, of Polish descent, who
was a prestigious and immensely
erudite patron. Andreotti
reinterprets the formal purity
of the Italian Quattrocento,
and of Donatello in particular,
in two figures who convey the
trepidation of the moment in
which the Annunciation is made.
This was a favourite theme with
Denis, who frequently set it in
Fiesole in a landscape similar
to those painted by such artists
as Fra Angelico, his source of
inspiration. The Gospel story
dialogues with the landscape,
while Florence appears in
the early morning light in the
distance. Denis wrote: “I believe
that Art must sanctify nature, and
that Vision without Spirit is vain.”
16
17
Giuseppe Capogrossi
(Rome 1900–1972)
The Annunciation
c. 1933
Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée
national d’art moderne / Centre
de création industrielle, donated
by Count Emanuele Sarmiento,
1933
Capogrossi reached his artistic
maturity in the early 1930s with a
style based on a uniform palette
close to the muralism favoured
by the Fascist regime. The two
statuesque figures clearly hark
back to Classical art, and to
ancient Rome in particular, but
the painting is also imbued with a
sense of suspended anticipation
reminiscent of Magical Realism.
Gaetano Previati
Georgica
1905
Vatican City, Musei Vaticani,
Collezione d’Arte Contemporanea
Set in a landscape that recalls
the countryside around Ferrara,
Georgica secularises the theme
of the Holy Family, binding it to
the sacred, circular flow of life
itself. Echoes of Millet’s palette
and a skilled use of light merge
with the monumental sculptural
construction of the central
group, whose silhouettes form
an ideal circle reminiscent of
Michelangelo’s tondos.
18
Arturo Martini
(Treviso 1889–Milan 1947)
Nativity Scene
1926
Painted and glazed ceramics
ø 55 cm, h. 45 cm
Genoa, Galleria d’Arte Moderna
Genoese architect Mario Labò
commissioned Martini to make a
series of ceramics for the Monza
Biennale of 1927, including this
Nativity with its primitivist mood
echoing popular devotion. Rather
than consisting in traditional
moving pieces, it is in effect a
single sculpture in which the
figures are attached to a base
defining a circular space.
Pietro Bugiani
(Pistoia 1905–92)
Nativity (Evening)
1928
Oil on wood; 60 x 80 cm
di Palazzo Pitti
The setting recalls the area
around Pistoia where the artist
developed a poetic rapport with
nature that was to mark his entire
career as a painter. In the course
of long “learning” walks under
Michelucci’s guidance, reading
Dante and Petrarch and debating
the lesson of Giotto and the other
old masters, Bugiani perfected
the stern formal synthesis visible
in this work.
19
Fillia
(Luigi Colombo; Revello 1904–
Turin 1936)
The Holy Family
c. 1931
Gaudenzi Collection
The Futurist Room at the
International Exhibition of
Religious Art in Padua in 1931
fuelled a debate between the
desire to renew art and the need
to respect religious iconography,
drawing the attention of both
artists and the Church to the
issue. The same year saw the
publication of the Manifesto for
Futurist Religious Art penned by
Fillia and Marinetti.
Odilon Redon
(Bordeaux 1840–Paris 1926)
Flight into Egypt
1903
Paris, Musée d’Orsay, bequeathed
by Mme Arï Redon according to
the wishes of her husband, the
artist’s son, 1984
Redon’s drawings and
engravings, dominated by
darkness until 1890, were to open
up to light and colour thanks
to Gauguin’s influence. Born
twenty years before the leading
Symbolists, Redon inhabited
a dreamlike interior world,
producing creations linked to the
unconscious mind and thus also
paving the way for Surrealism.
20
3.14
Élisabeth Chaplin
(Fontainebleau 1890–Florence
1982)
Rest in Egypt (Oasis)
c. 1927
Oil on canvas; 139 x 135.5 cm
di Palazzo Pitti
French but a naturalised
Florentine, Chaplin was raised
in a sophisticated artistic
environment. Her painting’s
composition reveals the influence
of the Nabis, its figures caught
in a revolving movement. While
the iconography is bound to
tradition, the lively palette
betrays the influence
of Symbolism.
3.15 Maurice Denis
Nazareth
1905
The three girls are probably
Berthe de La Laurencie’s
daughters, whose portraits Denis
had been commissioned to paint
about a year earlier. The golden,
rural setting is dominated by a
pergola adorned with a climbing
vine, close to the Christ Child (“I
am the true vine”, John 15:1).
21
Life of Christ: Miracles and Parables
Christ’s virtuous and exemplary human life acquired a newly
central role in the period stretching from the transitional years
of the early part of the 20th century to the years immediately
after World War Two, in a century filled with traumatic events
and intense cultural developments at the heart of which lay
man with his certainties and his fragility – from Bistolfi’s Christ
Walking on Water whose presentation at the 1899 Venice
Biennale sparked an intense debate on the theme of sacred
art, to the interpretations of the Prodigal Son theme, popular
in the 1920s as a metaphor of the return to tradition. Artists
often chose miracles and parables as their subject matter for
their autobiographical potential even when the works were not
specifically designed to adorn places of worship.
3.16
Leonardo Bistolfi
(Casale Monferrato 1859–La
Loggia 1933)
Christ Walking on Water
1896
Terracotta; 40 x 34 x 39.5
Casale Monferrato, Museo Civico
e Gipsoteca Bistolfi
This maquette, subsequently
translated into a life-size statue
in plaster and bronze, has all the
freshness of the original idea.
The ascetic, emaciated Christ –
whose hieratic, Sphinx-like frontal
aspect Bistolfi may have studied
in Turin’s Museo Egizio – marked
a new approach to traditional
iconography, sparking an early
debate on the renewal of sacred
art.
22
Pietro Annigoni
(Milan 1910–Florence 1988)
The Raising of Lazarus
1946
Oil on canvas on wood; 98 x 80 cm
Annigoni painted the Raising of
Lazarus following his younger
brother’s death after his release
from a concentration camp, as
though attempting to exorcise
the tragedy. Continuing to show
a penchant for sacred themes in
the postwar era, Annigoni bathes
the Gospel story in a supernatural
light.
Baccio Maria Bacci
(Florence 1888–1974)
The Prodigal Son
1925
Milan, Museo del Novecento
Bacci depicts the moment in the
parable when the young man,
who has fallen on hard times,
becoming a swineherd and eating
the same food as his beasts,
decides to return to his father’s
house. While the symbolic light
echoes the style of Caravaggio, it
is set in a painting that maintains
a 20th century strength in the
artist’s choice of palette and in
his brushwork.
23
Arturo Martini
(Treviso 1889–Milan 1947)
Prodigal Son
1927
Bronze; 219 x 149 x 100 cm
Acqui Terme, “Jona Ottolenghi”
Nursing Home
The theme, inspired by the
Return to Order as a metaphor
of the reconciliation between
the modern and the Classical
in the wake of the Avant-Garde
rift, also has an autobiographical
connotation in view of Martini’s
father’s death. Martini himself
tells us that he sought stylistic
and iconographical ideas in
ancient and medieval art.
Life of Christ: The Passion, the Last Supper,
the Way of the Cross
The events in Christ’s life are illustrated by works chronologically
far removed from one another, comparing modes of artistic
expression which occasionally address the theme of the sacred
with significant and sweeping new takes on modernity. For
instance Stanley Spencer places Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem
in an English urban setting, Costetti in a Florentine suburb. The
Stations of the Cross were another popular theme, Previati’s
Divisionist approach based on the symbolic value of colours
giving way to Maraini’s measured, level modelling and Fontana’s
unruly, pained style heralding Abstract art, while the explosive
art of Otto Dix reveals his abhorrence of modern atrocities for
which the sorrowful trajectory of the Saviour’s life is a metaphor.
Stanley Spencer
(Cookham 1891–Cliveden 1959)
Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem
1920
Leeds, Leeds Museums and
Galleries
Spencer – who set Christ’s
Entry in his native Cookham,
outside the house built by his
grandfather, in a space where
perspective is distorted – offers
us an unusual take on religious
art by introducing the themes of
Christian Socialism propounded
by Harry Slesser, a Labour
leader in whose home Spencer
was living when he painted the
picture.
24
25
Giovanni Costetti
(Reggio nell’Emilia 1874–
Settignano 1949)
Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem
c. 1923–6
Oil on cardboard; 70 x 101 cm
di Palazzo Pitti
26
Felice Carena
(Cumiana 1879–Venice 1966)
Apostles
1926
di Palazzo Pitti
Costetti imbues Christ’s Entry,
in its modern setting amid the
factory chimneys of a Florentine
suburb, with the ideas on the
brotherhood of man and Christian
Socialism also found in Spencer.
The style reflects his recent spell
in Paris and his familiarity with
the work of Kees van Dongen and
Modigliani.
After the Last Supper, Christ
goes to pray in the Garden
of Gethsemane while the
apostles with him sleep. The
painting reveals the influence of
Classical sources as well as 17th
century realism and the style of
Caravaggio, combining them in
a composition based on crossed
diagonal lines pulled together by
a soft, warm light.
Stanley Spencer
(Cookham 1891–Cliveden 1959)
The Last Supper
1920
Cookham, Stanley Spencer
Gallery
Giuseppe Montanari
(Osimo 1899–Varese 1976)
The Kiss of Judas
1918
The Last Supper is being held in
the barn at Fernlea, the Spencers’
Cookham home. The painting’s
focal point are the folds of the
drapery, midway between Cubism
and Futurism, culminating in an
unusual tangle of bare feet. The
compositional models based on
Donatello and the light colours
inspired by Giotto were intended
to convey the feeling of a renewal
of sacred art.
The perspective from below
distorts and accentuates the
unmoving quality of the figures
frozen in a chill light which,
far from enfolding them, turns
things into geometrical objects
and people into statues. In
Montanari’s early work, colour
was his favourite means of
expression for revisiting reality.
27
Gaetano Previati
Jesus Crowned with Thorns
(Station I of the Cross)
1901–2
This First Station is brought to life
by its warm tone reminiscent of
Titian, though the tone becomes
chillier and the compositions
shadier in the later station,
alluding to the waning day and
the darkening sky. The artist’s
focus on faces sets the work
in the context of the northern
European Expressionists’
exploration of the depiction of
states of mind.
Antonio Maraini
(Rome 1886–Florence 1963)
Stations of the Cross - Stations IV,
VII, 1926
Plaster, 120 x 80 cm each
Figline Valdarno, Church of Saint
Francis - Provincia Toscana di
San Francesco Stimmatizzato,
Ordine dei Frati Minori. Donated
by Giovanni Pratesi
The Stations of the Cross,
commissioned from Maraini for
Rhodes cathedral when the island
was an Italian colony, were much
admired for their ability to recount
the sacred drama with a sobriety
that was new to modern religious
art. The panels portray only the
figures and details that allow the
observer to identify the event, thus
making it easier to follow the stages
in Christ’s Passion.
28
Lucio Fontana
(Rosario de Santa Fe 1899
–Varese 1968)
Via Crucis (Stations II, III, XIII)
1955–6
41,5 x 21 x 10 cm each
Ceramics with reflective glaze
Milan, Museo Diocesano, from
Lombardia Region
This Way of the Cross – the
second of three that Fontana
made – is known as his “white”
Via Crucis. Designed for Marco
Zanuso’s chapel in the Ada
Bolchini dell’Acqua Institute
in Milan, it shows the artist’s
transition from figurative to
abstract art. The gaping slashes
herald the ceramic “cuts” for
which he became celebrated
from 1958.
Georges Rouault
(Paris 1871–1958)
Ecce Homo
1952
Oil on plywood; 50 x 45 cm
Rouault tirelessly explored the
face of Christ, his own religious
sentiment being moulded by
solidarity towards the suffering
occasioned by violence, social
injustice and corruption. His
spirituality was influenced by the
philosopher Jacques Maritain,
with whom he shared a deep
friendship, but also by the
thought of Catholic writer Léon
Bloy.
29
Georges Rouault
(Paris 1871–1958)
The Veil of Veronica
1946
Oil on cardboard on wood
51 x 37 cm
Rouault’s painting is
characterised by broad swathes
of colour and marked outlines
that point to his early days
as a restorer of stained-glass
windows. The image is twodimensional because Christ’s face
is miraculously impressed on the
light veil offered Him by Veronica
on the way to Calvary to wipe the
sweat and blood off His face.
Gino Severini
(Cortona 1883–Paris 1966)
Divine Mercy - Station VIII of the
Cross
1944–6
Mixed media on cardboard
100 x 75.5 cm
Cortona, Museo Diocesano del
Capitolo di Cortona
During World War II, Dix used
religious themes as a vehicle for
voicing his abhorrence of the war
and the Nazi regime. The setting
in a modern city and the crowd’s
dress are contemporary, yet at
the same time we can detect
echoes of certain 15th century
devotional panels and of Goya’s
art.
Otto Dix
(Gera 1891–Singen 1969)
Christ and Veronica
1943
Oil on wood
81 x 100 cm
During World War II, Dix used
religious themes as a vehicle for
voicing his abhorrence of the war
and the Nazi regime. The setting
in a modern city and the crowd’s
dress are contemporary, yet at
the same time we can detect
echoes of certain 15th century
devotional panels and of Goya’s
art.
30
31
Life of Christ: Crucifixion, Deposition, Pietà,
Resurrection
Many 20th century artists were particularly fond of the theme
of the Crucifixion and Deposition (which had already been
addressed in an innovative manner in the late 19th century)
because it was felt to be close to the condition of modern
man, especially in the years following the two world wars. The
theme also lent itself to metaphorical interpretation and to
the transposition of the formal and expressive values proper
to the Avant-Garde movements of Expressionism, Cubism
and Futurism. Artists were drawn to the theme by the tragedy
of war: Chagall, Manzù and Guttuso, for instance, recounted
the horrors of war and of Nazism. The section hosts various
works covering half a century, highlighting the different trends
and clashes of expression in the relationship between art and
religious sentiment. The Resurrection of Christ, though a central
event that sets Christianity apart from other religions, was
not one of the themes most commonly addressed by artists
between the middle of the 19th century and the aftermath of
World War Two.
Pablo Picasso
(Málaga 1881–Mougins 1973)
Christ on the Cross
1896–7
Oil and charcoal on paper
73.5 x 54.4 cm
Barcelona, Museu Picasso,
donated by Pablo Picasso
Picasso produced this study at a
time when he sought inspiration
in the work of the old masters,
in this instance Murillo. Some
have likened Christ’s head to a
dog or a wolf, but blasphemous
intent is unlikely in a fifteenyear-old. Even though Picasso
is known for his openly stated
atheism, he addressed the theme
of Christ’s Passion on more than
one occasion in the course of his
career.
32
Max Ernst
(Brühl 1891–Paris 1976)
Crucifix
1914
The Crucifix, one of Ernst’s few
religious works, is a product
of his formative years. Aware
of the work being done by the
European Avant-Garde, yet
also recalling Grünewald’s art,
Ernst transformed his sources of
inspiration into a personal style.
This picture is a rare example
of his early development in an
Expressionist environment before
he embraced Dadaism and
Surrealism.
Primo Conti
(Florence 1900–Fiesole 1988)
Crucifixion
1924
Oil on canvas
190 x 130 cm
Florence, Convent of Santa Maria
Novella
Traditional iconography is here
transformed into a pyramidal
scene converging towards
Christ’s head. The drama of the
event is underscored by the
darkness caused by the eclipse
of the sun mentioned in the
Gospels (depicted on the right)
in a nocturne revealing Conti’s
personal interpretation of the 17th
century art he had admired at an
exhibition in Florence in 1922.
33
Marc Chagall
(Moishe Segal; Vitebsk 1887–
Saint-Paul-de-Vence 1985)
White Crucifixion
1938
Oil on canvas; 155 x 139.8 cm
Chicago, The Art Institute
of Chicago, Gift of Alfred S.
Alschuler
This painting, dated 1938, is a
bold statement deploring the
persecution of the Jews. Chagall
replaces Christ’s loincloth with
a prayer shawl and His crown
of thorns with a kippah, adding
figures in traditional garb,
synagogues burning and people
fleeing in fear. That Pope Francis
has declared it to be his favourite
painting may be due to the bold
interfaith spirit it exudes.
Giacomo Manzù
(Giacomo Manzoni; Bergamo
1908–Ardea 1991)
Crucifixion
1939–40
Bronze; 48 x 38 x 5.5 cm
At the outbreak of World War II,
Manzù expressed his opposition
to dictatorship by introducing
elements in his Crucifixion that
set it squarely in the modern era.
A soldier wears a Prussian helmet
and the figures are dramatically
naked. The work caused quite a
stir in conservative circles and
was even branded blasphemous,
but it won the Premio Bergamo
award nevertheless.
34
Renato Guttuso
(Bagheria 1911–Rome 1987)
Crucifixion
1940–1
During the war years Guttuso was
eager to create a secular portrait
of collective despair, using lateCubist elements but with Italian
colour. Criticised because Christ
is concealed by the thief’s cross
and because the Magadalen is
“indecent” in her nakedness, the
painting still won second prize in
the Premio Bergamo award.
Graham Sutherland
(London 1903–80)
Study for Crucifixion
1947
Oil on masonite; 97 x 118 cm
This study bears witness to
the lengthy birth pangs of the
picture Sutherland painted for St.
Matthew’s in Northampton. His
model is the Christ in Grünewald’s
Isenheim Altar (1512–16) now in
Colmar, but he also looked to
Picasso’s Guernica, to Bacon and
to the photos taken by the Allies
when freeing Nazi concentration
camps.
35
36
Lucio Fontana
(Rosario de Santa Fe 1899
–Varese 1968)
Crucifixion
1951
Polychrome ceramics
68 x 40 x 30 cm
Private collection
Pericle Fazzini
(Grottammare 1913–Rome 1987)
Deposition
1946
Bas-relief, bronze
180.5 x 85 x 3.5 cm
Rome, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di
Roma Capitale
Lucio Fontana entered the
competition for Milan cathedral’s
fifth door in 1950. While not
specifically embracing the
competition’s religious tenor, a
spiritual inclination of a universal
nature allowed him to embark
on a renewal of the already
broad range of religious subjects
produced in ceramic in Albissola.
Fazzini uses a religious theme to
express his sense of participation
in the sorrowful events of the war.
He dresses some of his figures in
modern clothing to highlight the
reference to that contemporary
tragedy, but the overall message
is positive, the wind ruffling the
composition sweeping away
conflict and sorrow.
Emilio Vedova
(Venice 1919–2006)
Contemporary Crucifixion
- Cycle of Protest n° 4
1953
oil on canvas; 130 x 170 cm
Fausto Melotti
(Rovereto 1901–Milan 1986)
Deposition
1933
Bronze; 86 x 60 x 26 cm
Private collection
Vedova began to work in the
early ‘fifties on a series of cycles
to which he was to devote
rest of the decade. Painting
in these cycles became a
gestural expression seeking to
translate the sense of life in the
contemporary world into painted
space. He chose this sacred
theme without either religious or
blasphemous intent, but simply
on account of the powerful
drama that it embodies.
During a spell at the Scuola
Professionale in Cantù, Melotti
produced a number of religious
works including the Deposition
and the Supper at Emmaus,
both of which are on display in
the exhibition. In the sculptural
synthesis of his volumes, Melotti
reveals a debt both to the
academic teaching of Wildt and
– in his spare, unfussy treatement
of the figures’ bodies – to the
work of Arturo Martini.
37
Felice Carena
(Cumiana 1879–Venice 1966)
Deposition
1938–9
The Deposition is dated 1938–9,
yet it was already in Carena’s
Florence workshop in 1934.
While stating that he wished
to immerse “art in ever greater
humanity,” the painter (who
gave Christ his own features
and the Virgin those of his wife)
continued nevertheless to reflect
the lesson of Michelangelo’s
Bandini and Rondanini Pietàs and
of El Greco.
Luigi Bonazza
(Arco 1877–Trento 1965)
Deposition
c. 1916
Pencil and pastel on paper
82 x 176 cm
Trento, private collection
Bonazza trained (and lived for a
long time) in Vienna, embracing
the Sezession. On his return to
Trento, then under Austrian rule,
his painting continued to testify
to the enduring influence of the
Secessionist style in Italy. This
drawing, one of his few religious
works, harks back to the Pietà
that Franz von Stuck had painted,
after an original by Holbein, in
1891.
38
Vincent van Gogh
(Groot Zundert 1853–Auvers-surOise 1890)
The Pietà (after Delacroix)
1889 circa
Despite his religious sentiment
Van Gogh rarely tackled religious
subjects, and when he did do
so it was only to revisit others’
work such as Delacroix’s Pietà
of 1850, of which he owned a
reproduction in black and white.
Vincent gave his own features to
this, his only depiction of Christ,
sporting red hair and a short
beard, only months before he
committed suicide.
Tullio Garbari
(Pergine Valsugana 1892–Paris
1931)
The Deposed
1929
Florence, Musei Civici Fiorentini,
Collezioni del Novecento
The Deposed embodies Maritain’s
concept of the maladresse
(clumsiness) that enriches the
artistic creation process, imbuing
the painting with both a human
and a religious tone. Garbari here
revisits the art of Mantegna and
Orazio Borgianni in an approach
that betrays familiarity with the
work of Douanier Rousseau, with
European primitivism and with
popular devotional painting.
39
Émile Bernard
(Lille 1868–Paris 1941)
Resurrection
1925–30
This is an interpretation of a
Michelangelo drawing now in
Windsor Castle which can be
dated to c. 1532, which was
never translated into a complete
work and whose destination
is uncertain. Bernard’s artistic
vocabulary includes strong,
expressive highlights in the
figures’ heavy black outlines and
an intensely textural quality to
the brushwork.
Fausto Melotti
(Rovereto 1901–Milan 1986)
Supper at Emmaus
1933
Bronze; 90 x 60 x 36 cm
Private collection
Bent on renewing religious art
in the early ‘thirties, Melotti
reinterpreted the teachings of
Valori Plastici and of Carrà’s
primitivism. The result can be
seen in his graphic treatment of
surfaces, his handling of faces, his
figures’ tubular limbs,
a precarious spatial balance and
the inverted perspective of the
table.
40
Severini:
Mural
Decoration
from Spirituality
to Poetry
A tight selection of decorative schemes allows
the visitor to explore the work of Gino Severini
(Cortona 1883–Paris 1966) in the Swiss churches
of Semsales (1925–6), La Roche (1927–8),
Tavannes (1930), Saint-Pierre in Fribourg (1931–2;
1950–1) and Notre-Dame du Valentin in Lausanne
(1933–4). These projects placed Severini in
the forefront of the drive to renew sacred art,
thanks also to the crucial spiritual and notional
influence of Jacques Maritain, with whom Severini
shared the belief that Christian art “gushes
from a heart filled with grace.” The fertile bond
of friendship between the philosopher and the
artist helped to forge the kind of figurative and
conceptual environments that were favoured
by the progressive Catholic circles eager to see
iconographic reform and, in particular, a renewal
of religious architecture.
41
Gino Severini
Study concerning an early
solution for the windows of the
lateral nave of the church of
Saint-Nicolas de Myre in Semsales
1924–5
Tempera, ink and watercolor on
cardboard; 325 x 220 mm
Private collection
Alexandre Cingria
(Geneva 1879-Lausanne)
Study for a stained-glass window
for the church of Saint-Nicolas de
Myre in Semsales
1924
Tempera and pencil
on tracing paper; 275 x 405 mm
Roma, Romana Severini Brunori
Collection
Gino Severini
A. Angel
Rough sketch for a mosaic of the
church of Saint-Nicolas de Myre a
Semsales
1926
Tempera on paper; 150 x 150 mm
Strasbourg, Collections de
la Bibliothèque Nationale et
Universitaire
B. Symbols of the Sacred Heart
and Eucharist
Rough sketch for a decoration
motif of the church of SaintNicolas de Myre in Semsales
1927
Kolbsheim, Collection Cercle
d’études Jacques et Raïssa
Maritain
Gino Severini
Rough sketch of part of the apse
of the church in La Roche
1927
Tempera and pencil on cardboard
538 x 379 mm
Rome, Romana Severini Brunori
Collection
42
43
Gino Severini
Still Life
Rough sketch for the fresco of
the ceiling of the tribune of the
church in La Roche
1927
Tempera on cardboard
365 x 345 mm
Ravenna, Arts High School
“Nervi-Severini”
Gino Severini
Rough sketch for the decoration
of the interior of the church of
Saint-Pierre in Freiburg
1931
Tempera, gold and silver
on cardboard; 555 x 410 mm
Collection
44
Gino Severini
A. Pietà
Rough sketch for the fresco on
the triumphal arch of the church
in La Roche
1927–8
230 x 460 mm
Collection
Gino Severini
(Cortona, 1883–Paris 1966)
A. Sketch for the decoration
of the interior of the church of
Saint-Pierre in Freiburg from the
lateral nave
1931
Collection
B. Annunciation
Rough sketch for a fresco in
the apsidal area of the church
of Notre-Dame du Valentin in
Lausanne
1933
260 x 180 mm
Private collection
B. Design for the tribune of the
church of Saint-Pierre in Freiburg
1931
Tempera and gold on cardboard
434 x 1150 mm
Franchina Collection
C. King David and Angel
Musicians
Rough sketch for the organ
tribune painting in the church in
La Roche
1927–8
Tempera, pencil and gold on
cardboard; 269 x 744 mm
45
Gino Severini
Decoration for the tomb of his
son Jacques
1933–4
Mosaic; 64 x 34.5 cm
Collection
Gino Severini
A. The Delivery of the Keys to
Saint Peter
Rough sketch for the definitive
version of the altar mosaic in the
1950
561 x 416 mm
Collection
B. Mosaic from a detail of The
Delivery of the Keys to Saint
Peter in the church of Saint-Pierre
in Freiburg
1950–1
Mosaic; 54.5 x 42.2 cm
46
Gino Severini
A1. Study of the “baldaquin” for
the church of Saint-Nicolas de
Myre in Semsales
1925
pencil on paper; 190 x 208 mm
Collection
A2. Study for the “baldaquin”
for the church of Saint-Nicolas
de Myre in Semsales
1925
mm 110 x 197
Collection
A3. Study of freeze for the
“baldaquin” for the church of
Saint-Nicolas de Myre in Semsales
1925
mm 68 x 237
Collection
B1. Saint with Clasped Hands
Study for a figure of the mosaic
on the façade of the church of
Christ-Roi in Tavannes
1930
Pencil on paper; 337 x 260 mm
Collection
47
B2. Praying Saint
1930
Collection
B3. Virgin
1930
Collection
D. Study for the apse of the
1931–2
China ink on paper; 174 x 100 mm
Collection
E. Study for arches and
intradoses for the church of
Notre-Dame du Valentin in
Lausanne
1933
Tempera on paper
210 x 135 mm each
Collection
C. Study for a mosaic of the choir
in the church of Saint-Pierre in
Freiburg
1931
Pastel and pencil on paper
320 x 235 mm
Collection
48
49
SACRED
SPACE
Space, Light and Sacred Aura
2015
Video installation
Triptych on 3 vertically-mounted 65” screens
Duration: 12’
Concept and directed by: Vincenzo Capalbo,
Marilena Bertozzi
Production: Art Media Studio, Florence
© FLC by SIAE 2015
The video-triptych uses visual suggestion, image, light
and sound to explore the space of the church and to
recount the development of religious architecture from
St. Paul’s Within the Walls and the renovation of the
façades of Naples, Amalfi and Florence cathedrals in
the Neo-Gothic style in Italy, to the church of NotreDame de la Consolation in Rancy designed by Auguste
Perret in reinforced concrete, marking the transition
from historicism to modernity, and right up to Le
Corbusier’s sublimation of space and light in the crypt of
the monastic church of La Tourette in Éveux and in the
chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp.
The triple screen is inspired by an altarpiece in which
moving pictures recount the art of building, space as a
player in the narrative, a sculptural masterpiece imbued
with profound spirituality.
50
51
THE CHURCH
The portrayal of cardinals and popes in
the 19th century set out to highlight the
Church’s power and magnificence, while in
the 20th century it acquired a controversial
meaning in the work of such artists as
Scipione, Wildt and Manzù. The role of
decoration is exemplified by the panels of
Maurice Denis and by sketches inspired
by the Beuron art school which, though
named after the Benedictine Archabbey
of Beuron in Germany, included European
artists of varying origin and was one of the
first instances of the rebirth of sacred art at
the turn of the century; while a selection of
liturgical vestmenwwts, such as the chasuble
designed by Matisse, evokes Catholic ritual.
The figure of Saint Francis, depicted with
increasing frequency on the occasion of the
700th anniversary of his death in 1926 and
of his proclamation as patron saint of Italy
in 1939 – also in relation to the propaganda
fuelled by the Fascist regime – is evoked by
Wildt’s marble statue of the saint.
52
Maurice Denis
Preparation of the Censer,
Preparation of the flower baskets
from the cycle The Exaltation
of the Holy Cross and the
Glorification of the Sacrifice of
Mass
1899
Oil on canvas; 250 x 115 cm each
Paris, Musée d’Orsay, on loan
from the Musée des Arts
Décoratifs
These canvases are part of
a decorative scheme for the
chapel of the Collège de SainteCroix at Le Vésinet, Denis’
first commission for a place
of worship. The architectural
conception of space, visible in the
trellis, is a result of a penchant for
classicism acquired after seeing
Raphael’s work in the Vatican and
viewing Piero della Francesca’s
frescoes in Arezzo for the second
time.
53
Father Desiderius (Peter)
Lenz OSB
(Haigerloch 1832–Beuron 1928 )
Stories of Mary (Santa Maria di
Loreto, German Chapel)
1891
Beuron, Kunstarchiv der
Benediktiner-Erzabtei Sankt
Martin
A scheme for refurbishing and
redecorating the Basilica di
Santa Maria in Loreto included a
commission for the chancel wall,
known as the “German Chapel”,
assigned to a Benedictine named
Father Desiderius Lenz and to
Ludovico Seitz. Father Desiderius,
who founded the Beuronschule,
or Beuron Art School, promoted
a renewal of sacred art.
Father Desiderius (Peter)
Lenz OSB
(Haigerloch 1832–Beuron 1928)
1891
a. The Vision of Saint Benedict
Pencil and watercolour on paper
188 x 99 mm
b. The Death of Saint Benedict
Ink, pencil and watercolour on
paper; 192 x 117 mm
c. Vision of the Death and
Transitus of Saint Benedict
Pencil and watercolour ink on
paper; 192 x 110 mm
Martin
Sketches for a decorative cycle
known as the “Cycle of the Cross”
for the tower of Montecassino
Abbey, dated 1896. The cycle was
destroyed in the Allied air raid of
15 February 1944.
54
55
Father Willibrord (Jan)
Verkade
(Zaandam 1868–Beuron 1946)
Mary and Eve (Immaculate
Conception and Original Sin)
1905
Pencil and charcoal on paper
210.5 x 160 cm
Martin
This sketch was shown at the
23rd Sezession Exhibition
in Vienna in 1905, together with a
section of works from
the Beuronschule.
Adolfo Wildt
(Milan 1868–1931)
Saint Francis
1925
Marble; 45 x 47 x 26 cm
Forlì, Palazzo Romagnoli,
Collezioni del Novecento
This Saint Francis was
commissioned by Forlì-born
diplomat Raniero Paulucci
di Calboli to mark the 700th
anniversary of the saint’s death
in 1926. When the picture was
shown at the Venice Biennale
it triggered a debate between
those who faulted the saint’s
emaciated aspect and the artist’s
excessive display of virtuoso skill,
and those who appreciated his
effort to transcend marble as a
medium.
56
Gerardo Dottori
(Perugia 1884–1977), design;
Giulio Cesare Giuliani (Viterbo
1882–Rome 1954) execution
Saint Francis
1933
Leaded stained-glass window
85 x 55 cm
Rome, Vetrate d’Arte Giuliani
By the early ‘thirties Dottori had
reached the high point in his
exploration of sacred themes and
his attempt to define new codes
for modern religious art using
the vocabulary of Aeropainting,
whose bird’s eye views offered
a means of capturing man’s
sense of wonder before the
magnificence of creation.
Adolfo Wildt
(Milan 1868–1931)
Pius XI
1926
Gilded marble; 113 x 116 x 65 cm
With its fixed gaze, its rigid
bust and its golden symbols,
this Pius XI is an icon of the
Church on earth, a latter-day
idol, rather than the portrait
of a man. The bust combines
realism with abstraction, skilfully
merging echos of Ferrarese 15th
century painting and 17th century
sculpture.
57
Scipione
(Gino Bonichi; Macerata 1904–
Arco 1933)
The Cardinal Dean (Portrait of
Cardinal Vannuttelli)
1930
Oil on wood; 133.7 x 117.3 cm
Rome, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di
Roma Capitale
The symbols surrounding the
cardinal, who is seated before
St. Peter’s, hark back to Christian
iconography, to the Papacy and to
the Apocalypse. But in a style that
echoes the mood of European
Expressionism, Scipione combines
a dreamlike vision with the
sumptous, sensual, fleeting quality
of Baroque Rome in a painting
which appears to suggest that the
end may well be nigh.
Giacomo Manzù
(Giacomo Manzoni; Bergamo
1908–Ardea 1991)
Great Cardinal
1955
Bronze; 209 x 114 x 130 cm
Manzù wrote: “The first time I
saw cardinals was in St. Peter’s
in 1934. I was struck by their stiff
mass, unmoving yet vibrant with
compressed spirituality. I saw
them as so many statues, a series
of cubes in a line.” The artist
turned them into compositions
devoid of any attempt at
portraiture, in an effort to convey
not “the majesty of the Church”
but “the majesty of forms.”
58
Alfredo Ravasco
(Genoa 1873–Ghiffa 1958)
Reliquary of Saints Gervasius and
Protasius
1936
Gilded silver, lapis lazuli, rock
crystal, precious stones, pearls
Urn: 50.2 x 60 x 22 cm; base: 5.2
x 28 x 72.2 cm
Milan, Capitolo Metropolitano
This reliquary, donated to Milan
cathedral by Cardinal Schuster,
reveals the influence of the
rationalist religious architecture
that made its first appearance in
Italy in the early ‘thirties. Formal
simplification and decoration
relying for effect on the colours
of the materials used have
suggested the name of Alfredo
Ravasco, a leading light in the
renewal of the goldsmith’s art in
the religious sphere.
Henri Matisse
(Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–Nice
1954)
Green Chasuble
1951
Silk; 127 x 192 cm
This chasuble, along with five
others in the various liturgical
colours, was intended for the
Chapel of the Rosary in Vence,
a project inspired by Sister
Jacques-Marie, Matisse’s former
nurse who became a novice
in the Dominican convent of
Lacordaire. For these vestments
Matisse turned to the work of
Father Marie-Alain Couturier, a
leading player in the renewal of 59
religious art in France.
PRAYER
The exhibition closes on the discreet
evocation of Prayer: prayer marking
the hours in the day, personified by the
sculpture of Vincenzo Vela, who imbues his
figure with a sense of domestic intimacy
and private devotion, by Millet’s extremely
well-known Angelus, a universal paradigm
of devotion deeply rooted in work and
the flow of the seasons, or by the lyrically
introspective young girl portrayed by
Casorati. Munch’s father at prayer, in a
northern European environment heavy
with a sense of anguish, sits beside the
Mediterranean (yet no less dramatic)
prayer of Viani’s blind man. In the evening
prayer, the moment of private devotion that
precedes sleep, Cagnaccio di San Pietro
brings together the innocence of childhood
and the purity of religious sentiment; while
María Blanchard addresses a theme – a
young girl’s first communion – to which
artists turned with a certain frequency, yet
she transforms it into a dreamlike image in
which the figure’s hieratic quality conveys
the impression of a modern mosaic.
60
Vincenzo Vela
(Ligornetto 1820–1891)
Morning Prayer
1846
Plaster; 139 x 59.4 x 72.6 cm
Ligornetto, Museo Vincenzo Vela,
Ufficio federale della cultura
This plastercast is a preparatory
work for a marble sculpture
commissioned from young Vela
by Count Giulio Litta Visconti, a
patriot and collector of Romantic
paintings, on the advice of
Francesco Hayez. Updating the
composition of Bartolini’s Faith in
God, Vela imbues the figure with
a feeling of domestic intimacy
and private devotion.
Jean-François Millet
(Gréville 1814–Barbizon 1875)
The Angelus
1857–9
Paris, Musée d’Orsay, bequeathed
by Alfred Chauchard
This extremely famous
composition has become a global
icon for spirituality associated
with the sentiment of nature and
of man’s toil, conveyed in the
simple yet solemn gestures of
the two figures who stand out
against a sweeping landscape.
The bell tower is ringing out the
Angelus, calling people to the
evening prayer.
61
Edvard Munch
Old Man Praying
1902
Woodcut in two types of wood
printed on Japanese paper
519 x 376 mm
This woodcut depicts Munch’s
father deep in prayer, a posture in
which the painter had surprised
him many years earlier on
returning home after the two
men had had a flaming row.
Munch conveys the psychological
condition of his father, a man
“of a nervous disposition,
obsessively religious to the point
of psychosis,” by painting him
next to a huge shadow cast on
the wall.
María Blanchard
(Santander 1881–Paris 1932)
Girl at her First Communion
1914–20
Oil on canvas, collage; 180 x 124 cm
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro
de Arte Reina Sofía
Blanchard began this picture in
Madrid in 1914 but only finished
it in Paris. The painting, which
shows traces of the Cubist
experience in a certain stiffness
of line and draughtsmanship
alongside a certain crudeness
that harks back to José Gutiérrez
Solana, betrays the deep
existential bitterness of the
painter, a “magical and sorrowful”
figure handicapped from birth.
Felice Casorati
(Novara 1883–Turin 1963)
The Prayer
1914
Tempera on moleskin
130 x 120 cm
Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna
Achille Forti
This picture combines a line
defining the young girl’s head
in a simplicity that owes a debt
to Casorati’s interaction with
Arturo Martini and his skill in
woodcutting, with the artist’s
passion for the work of Klimt and
the Secessionist decorative style,
alongside echos of Oriental taste
and of Botticelli’s work.
62
63
Lorenzo Viani
(Viareggio 1882–Ostia 1936)
Blind Man’s Prayer
1920–3
Charcoal, tempera and oil on
cardboard; 96.6 x 66.5 cm
Viareggio, Galleria d’Arte
Moderna e Contemporanea
“Lorenzo Viani”
Viani merges Expressionist tones,
social themes and echos of
Tuscan 13th and 14th century art
in a plain, almost rough painting
on poor supports perfectly suited
to portraying the condition of
society’s down and outs. The
Blind Man’s Prayer conveys the
full power of clear archaicisms
and anatomical malformations
combined with a certain religious
reverence.
64
Cagnaccio di San Pietro
(Natale Scarpa; Desenzano del
Garda 1897–Venice 1946)
Prayer
1932
Oil on wood; 80 x 60 cm
This painting consists of a
handful of coloured elements:
the nightshirt and sheets are
pale, while the walls of the room
enclosing the spatial box are
white with the sole intrusion of a
small votive picture. The clarity
creates a mood of suspension,
but a light from outside the
picture bathes the child’s face,
conveying a deeply symbolic
significance.
65
Panels written by
Lucia Mannini, Anna Mazzanti, Ludovica Sebregondi
Captions written by
Ludovica Sebregondi
Editorial coordination
Ludovica Sebregondi
Manuela Bersotti
Translations
Stephen Tobin
Graphic design
RovaiWeber design
This publication brings together
the explanatory texts of the exhibition
Divine Beauty
from Van Gogh to Chagall and Fontana
Florence, Palazzo Strozzi
24 September 2015–24 January 2016
curated by
Lucia Mannini, Anna Mazzanti,
Ludovica Sebregondi, Carlo Sisi
Promoted ed organised by
Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi
with the collaboration of
Arcidiocesi di Firenze
Ex Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico,
Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale
della città di Firenze
Musei Vaticani
With the support of
Comune di Firenze
Camera di Commercio di Firenze
Associazione Partners Palazzo Strozzi
Regione Toscana
Main Sponsor
Banca CR Firenze
Under the High Patronage
of the President of the Italian Republic
With the patronage of
Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo
Consolato onorario di Francia a Firenze
Expo Milano 2015
66
67
Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi
Piazza Strozzi, 50123 Firenze
www.palazzostrozzi.org

the exhibition captions

Transcription

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