As part of the project "From Caravaggio to Guercino. Sir Denis Mahon and Italian art of the XVII century "viewers show about 30 works from the collections of the Hermitage and museums in Italy

Caravaggio Boy with a Basket of Fruit 1593-1594. Oil on canvas
Rome, Galleria Borghese
Source: hermitagemuseum.org


Caravaggio A young man with a lute. 1595-1596
Oil on canvas State Hermitage Museum

Source: hermitagemuseum . org


Guercino Madonna and Child (Madonna of the sparrow). Around 1615-1616
Oil on canvas
Bologna, Pinacoteca National
(under the will of Sir Denis Mahon)
Source: hermitagemuseum.org

State Hermitage Museum, July 13 - September 1, 2013
St. Petersburg, Winter Palace, the Armorial Hall (195)

in the Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace, the exhibition "From Guercino to Caravaggio. Sir Denis Mahon and Italian art of the XVII century ", organized by the State Hermitage Museum and the museums of Italy with the support of RomArtificio. This exhibition - tribute and respect to the art critic and collector, the leading experts on creativity Guercino, Caravaggio and the art of the XVII century, Sir Denis Mahon.

Sir Denis Mahon (1910-2011) belongs to art historians who combined his scientific career with collecting. In his collection are paintings by Caravaggio, Guercino, Guido Reni, Luca Giordano, Giuseppe Maria Crespi and other leading Italian painters of the seventeenth - eighteenth centuries, as well as great graphic works. He wrote a number of basic research, including based on documents and testimonies of contemporaries "Essays on art Seicento" - the first treatise on art theory and practice in Rome in the first half of the XVII century, the catalog of Guercino drawings from the Royal collection at Windsor work dedicated to the works of Caravaggio and Poussin. After the Second World War, Denis Mahon regular visits to Italy, his work as an art historian and collector, is particularly active. He was one of the organizers of the ground-breaking at the time the exhibition Carracci family of painters in 1956, the exhibition dedicated to the classical ideal in Italy XVII century, personal exposures Guercino in Bologna and Washington in 1991-1992. At the beginning of the XXI century Mahon lucky enough to buy the painting "Rounders", a copy of which was considered a Caravaggio, but after the restoration of the second embodiment of the recognized famous paintings, now stored in the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, TX (USA).

In the last years of his life, Sir Denis was concerned about the fate of his collection. Twice it seemed to be in full force - at the National Gallery in London in 1997 and in the Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome. After that, the pictures were distributed among the various museums of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. The end of life Denis Mahon remained interested in the artistic life. In particular, he wanted to unite in a painting exhibition of his collection to those that he especially loved and studied.

concept Hermitage exhibition reflects this idea of ​​Denis Mahon. The exhibition includes about 30 works by Guercino, Caravaggio and their contemporaries from Italian collections, complemented by a rich collection of paintings from the XVII century Italian paintings in the Hermitage. With hobbies Guercino began the path of Denis Mahon to the history of Italian painting, he ended the discoveries associated with the art of Caravaggio.

Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio (1571-1610), showed an interest in painting from an early years. Since 1584, and, apparently, until 1588, he studied in the studio of Milanese artist Simone Petertsano. Thereafter, there is no record of Caravaggio, until his arrival in Rome (about 1592). In the early years of Roman life Caravaggio surprisingly quickly evolved. So, this time can be dated polufigurnye images of young men with different accessories and in different situations (eg, "Boy with a Basket of Fruit", "Sick Bacchus" - both of Rome, Galleria Borghese, two versions of "Boys bitten by a lizard" - London, National Gallery, Florence, Roberto Longhi Foundation). The most perfect of these works can be considered "Lute-Player" from the Hermitage, where the harmonious unity of man with the surrounding nature is expressed in the picturesque respect especially thin. Obviously, a little later, Caravaggio created a few songs already uniting two or three figures in one scene. Obvious examples here can serve two options, "Fortune Teller" (Rome, Capitoline Museums, Paris, Louvre), and two replicas "Rounders" (Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, and the former collection of Denis Mahon) by about 1597 year. Caravaggio was able to find a new genre of painting subjects and present them at the highest artistic and narrative level.

around the time of the 1598-1600 period include Caravaggio paintings on religious subjects started, apparently, to order. The first paintings of this kind show some artificiality that goes back to the tradition of mannerism, or underlined brutality. A new interpretation of the Gospel theme appears in the "Penitent Mary Magdalene" (Rome, Galleria Doria Pamphili). The painting depicts a contemporary artist girl, perhaps, a peasant woman dressed for a holiday, but frozen in deep thought. Snatched out of the darkness a beam of light is focused on her figure, Mary Magdalene appears as natural as the "Lute Player". Thus, the artist opens up new approaches to the possibilities of interpretation of religious subjects. Performing in 1599 three paintings with scenes from the life of St. Matthew for the chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi ordered by Cardinal Matteo Contarello, Caravaggio announced himself as a kind and mature artist.

Other monumental piece that completes the Roman period works by Caravaggio - "The Death of Mary", executed in the years 1605-1606, was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities because of the pattern is accentuated by the natural (non-naturalistic) details - awkwardly hanging down the left hand, swollen stomach, naked feet that do not fit on the bed is too short. At the same time, Caravaggio and created a number of paintings that were more like his contemporaries. They are a direct route was scheduled to mature Baroque painting. An example is the "Martyrdom of St. Matthew" for the chapel Kantarini, characterized by rapid multidirectional movement.

Caravaggio was not sufficiently understood by his contemporaries who imitated his system contrast of light and shadow, use it stories, but almost did not reach the inspired works of the master force. We can say that only the opening of Caravaggio in the early twentieth century allowed to fully appreciate its importance in the overall picture of the development of European painting.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (1591-1666) belonged to the the next generation of Italian artists. He was born in Cento, studying with local artists. Thanks to the undoubted natural talent, Guercino was formed very early. The painting "Madonna of the sparrow" (1615-1616), originating from the collection of Mahon (now - Bologna, the National Pinacoteca) can give an idea of ​​the first works of the master. Guercino created a number of wonderful pictures, barely reaching thirty years. They share a common manner in which received development trends laid down in the "Madonna with the sparrow." These works show scenes taken close-up. Heroes are usually presented to the waist, and not in full view. The artist is actively using black and white contrasts, emphasizing the plasticity of bodies. At the same time, the light pulls no fragments, as was the case with the majority of Caravaggisti and sculpts the form. The expressiveness of his characters gives an energetic gestures.

In the years 1621-1623 Guercino worked in Rome, where he seems to be an impression on the young artist produced not by Caravaggio, and representatives of the Bolognese school - Domenichino and Guido Reni. Mahon Guercino considering staying in Rome as the beginning of the "transition" period in his work, which lasted until about 1632. The Hermitage has a monumental work of Guercino "transition period" - "Ascension of Mary", filled shortly after the return of the Eternal City. In July 1623 he returned to Cento, Guercino, and in 1642, after the death of Guido Reni, moved his studio to Bologna.

Classic features in the work of Guercino are further developed. Almost entirely from his works are disappearing multi-figure compositions, and the role of the landscape that occupies more space. In the few multi-figured scenes Guercino is committed to a balanced symmetrical composition, which sometimes seems artificial. In place of the heroes of the early period energetic come static, as if the characters were stopped in traffic. Also changes the type of entities: they become stereotyped and often relatively comely, as in the paintings of Guido Reni. More vivid and become local paint fade contrasts of light and shade, typical of the early works. It is not known exactly, which is more affected by the change of artistic language late Guercino - the influence of Guido Reni, his tastes Bologna (and Emilian) customers, or was it due to other, internal causes of the development of his own creation. However, the work of Guercino really is a shining example of sharp changes in artistic style of the great master, and therefore deserves a more careful analysis.

the exhibition of the State Hermitage Publishing House has prepared an illustrated catalog. The curators of the exhibition - Sergey O. Androsov, head of the Department of Western European Art of the State Hermitage Museum, Doctor of Arts, Tatyana Bushmina, a senior researcher at the Department of Western European Art of the State Hermitage Museum, Professor Mina Gregori (Florence, Italy) and Anna kolivo, director of the Galleria Borghese (Rome, Italy).

Source : hermitagemuseum.org