Giotto
The
first exhibition to be hosted in the Academy Gallery's new rooms, now completely
restored is, significantly enough, dedicated to Giotto who was the artistic
protagonist of the first Roman Jubilee decreed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
A unique event with the largest concentration ever of works by the artist
and his school. The exhibition is yet another of the many important events
that have been planned for Jubilee Year 2000, even though it is only marginally
connected to the celebrations. It is an occasion for the general public and
scholars not only to admire some of Giotto's most important masterpieces but
also many unknown or recently attributed works on loan from Florence, Italy,
private collections and important foreign museums. The entire lifetime's work
of this exceptional artist - an authentic patriarch of Italian and European
painting in the 14th century, often rightly compared to other artists who
revolutionised the figurative language, like Masaccio
or Caravaggio - is illustrated here and placed in comparison, from the years
of his youth to the last masterpieces of his old age. The exhibits worthy
of note include fragments of detached frescoes from the High Chapel of the
Church of Badia which, according to Lorenzo Ghiberti, one of the most reliable
sources on the 14th century, were carried out by Giotto; fragments from the
stained glass windows (designed by the artist) from the central nave of S.
Croce and the cusp from the Baroncelli Chapel, again in S. Croce (Museum
of Art, San Diego - California); the polyptych of S. Reparata on loan from
the Cathedral of Florence; the
great Crucifix from the Church of
Ognissanti and another from S. Maria Sopra Minerva (Rome); the Madonna
and Child enthroned, angels, St. Francis and St. John the Baptist from a private
collection (New York); the St. Stephen from the Horne Museum; the Madonna
and Child from the Art Gallery of Castelfiorentino and the polyptych from
the Bologna National Art Gallery; the two panels of the 23rd and 21st scenes
of the Apocalypse from the Gallery of Stuttgart, together with many other
works attributed to Giotto or his school. This is therefore a unique opportunity
to view the largest exhibition ever carried out on the work of this magnificent
Tuscan master and certainly not to be missed.
Academy Gallery tel. 055.2388609.
Hours: Tuesdays-Sundays 8.30-20 - Saturdays 8.30-24.
Closed on Mondays.
Entrance L. 15.000. From June 3rd to September 30th.
Translated by Susan Glasspool
In
collaboration with: