Something exciting is headed to the Australian capital of Canberra; the National gallery of Australia has announced that it will be presenting an exhibit entitled, Renaissance-15 and 16 century Italian paintings from the Academia Carrara, Bergamo. The city of Bergamo is in the Lombardy province in northern Italy.
None of the paintings in the exhibition have left Europe before, it will feature more than 70 paintings including works by Italian masters, and visitors to the exhibition will also have the opportunity to see works by less well known painters such as Tura, Moroni and Vivarini.
Saint Sebastian 1501-02
oil on wood panel
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Bequest of Guglielmo Lochis 1866
The paintings are on loan to the National Gallery as the Accademia Carrara is closed for renovation, Dr Ron Radford AM, director of the National Gallery of Australia says, “There has never been an exhibition in Australia that has included fifteenth century Italian art, some of the most famous names in the history of art are represented in the exhibition. No paintings by Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini or Perugino have ever been seen in Australia before.”
Christine Dixon, senior curator of international painting and sculpture, National Gallery of Australia and co-ordinating curator of the exhibition said, “The Renaissance exhibition will provide visitors with an intriguing view of the beliefs and lifestyles of both the elite and the ordinary Italian citizen of the time.
The gallery is proud to present such a unique show which will allow visitors to appreciate the beauty of these 500 year old works which still speak to us today.”
Speaking as one of the 476,000 visitors who experienced the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition in December 2010, which was incredible I can’t wait to see this one ,tickets are on sale now via www.ticketek.com.au or if you can get there from the front office of the National Gallery.
The Gallery will have timed ticketing for the exhibition; you choose the date and the time so you can view at your leisure. The exhibition will run from 9 December 2011-9 April 2012.
