From Parmigianino To Piazzetta. Heads, Animals And Bizarre Thoughts In The Pictures Of The Estense Gallery
http://www.arcadja.com/artmagazine/en/2011/08/30/%EF%BB%BFfrom-parmigianino-to-piazzetta-heads-animals-and-bizarre-thoughts-in-the-pictures-of-the-estense-gallery/
A princely collection in the residence of a Duke: the royal palace of Ferrante Gonzaga in Guastalla, Emilia Romagna, restored to its former dignity, is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the secret passion of another dynasty, the House of Este, for collecting pictures. The two ducal Houses were related to each other for centuries, up to the last Este-Gonzaga marriage in 1648, between Margherita, the daughter of Alfonso III, the “Capuchin Duke”, and duke Ferrante III of Guastalla.
The exhibition is not proposing just “any” work, but curious, particular, unusual works, evidence of a trend that exploded in the European courts from the 16th century and found in the Dukes of Este particularly careful and qualified collectors.
All the pictures come from the Estense Gallery in Modena, the city where the House of Este settled with their court after the devolution of their capital, Ferrara, to the papacy. Most of these works have never been displayed to the public before now.
The Este family preferred, not for economic matters but for passion, works that one time may have been considered simple studies or trials of an artist, their most private works. They proved to appreciate the most outdated and exotic genres and characters, but also the non-noble portraits, sketches of a face rendered in its expressive naturalness, the pose of an animal. All profane subjects, an aspect which makes the exhibition even more rare.
These works were found at markets or artists’ workshops, and they contributed to enriching one of the most original and richest collections in Italy. Even the title of the exhibition, From Parmigianino to Piazzetta, offers a precise indication of the size and importance of the graphic collection of the Estense Gallery.
From 24th September to 4th December, a very meaningful selection of this collection (about seventy works) will be presented in Guastalla in an exhibition curated by Giovanna Paolozzi Strozzi and promoted by the City of Guastalla and by the Superintendency for Historical, Artistic and Ethno-anthropological Heritage of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Different pictures compose actual sections in the sections. So we find a core of works by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, imaginative reporter of everyday life. Then Giovan Maria Tamburini’s bubbly and ironic caricatures and the Busts of Emperors drawn from Titian’s famous cycle of Mantua by Bartolomeo Passerotti, an eclectic artist, very fine drawer and lover and collector of antiques.
A special place is reserved to the Carraccis and their “natural portraits” characterised by a shrewd technique, free from any constraint. Not less extraordinary are the Heads of Piazzetta, a genre that the Venetian artist applied himself to very successfully.
Another part of the collection is also reserved to exotic curiosities. They describe journeys in faraway lands, but also new scientific studies, of that world of researchers that in Bologna referred to Ulisse Aldrovandi. Finally, the animals, a genre that the House of Este were dedicated to with particular interest, collecting absolute masterpieces.
The Estense collection will be on view in the Ducal Palace wanted by the successors of Ferrante Gonzaga on the pre-existing “Palazzo Nuovo” of the Torello counts. The building, re-opened after long restoration works, documents a history that started in 1539, when the Gonzagas took on the lordship of Guastalla with Ferrante, the third son of Francesco II and Isabella d’Este, famous field marshal of Charles V, duke of Ariano and prince of Molfetta. The first moment of splendour of the residence can be ascribed to the lordship of Ferrante II who, when his wedding to Vittoria Doria was drawing close, wanted to “make Guastalla, and the Palace in particular, more attractive”, taking care of decorating it to make it marvellous. The Palace was already organised around the large square, central and entirely porched courtyard, which on the eastern side led into the “great garden”, while the offices overlooked Gonzaga street, the theatre and the “conversation rooms” in the northern wing, and the southern and eastern sides of the courtyard housed the apartments and service areas.
Sovereign palace in the 18th century, it competed for size and structure of the Court with Turin, Florence, Modena and Parma, where the last Italian dynasties had settled. After the death of the last duke, Giuseppe Maria Gonzaga, cousin of the duke of Modena Francesco III d’Este, in the mid 18th century, the dukedom went to the House of Borbone, constituting the State of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. In 1896, the Ducal Palace was bought by the industrialist Flavio Mossina who made some changes to the building which still characterise it nowadays, fractioning the spaces, and having the antique rooms decorated according to the Liberty style in vogue at the time. In spite of the stylistic changes, the ducal rooms never lost their charm, and Bernardo Bertolucci even wanted to film in these unforgettable rooms some scenes of “Novecento – Atto I”.
Between 1997 and 1998, the City of Guastalla decided to purchase the building, turning it into the premises of the City Museum and, as proven by this exhibition, now even the venue of important exhibitive events.
From 24th September to 4th December 2011
DA PARMIGIANINO A PIAZZETTA
Palazzo Ducale, Guastalla (RE)
Information: UIT (+39) 0522/219812 – Ufficio Cultura – (+39) 0522/839757/60 eventieculture@comune.guastalla.re.it
Opening times: Wednesday from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and from 3.30 pm to 7.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday from 9.30 am to 7.00 pm; closed on Mondays; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday – open upon request.
Entrance: full 7 euros; reduced 4 euros.
