6. Raffaello Sanzio, Raphaël
The Marriage of the Virgin
Mariage de la Vierge
1504
a incredible and unachievable perfection ...
inspired by one of Perugino's paintings, known as Marriage of the Virgin, conserved at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen
Joseph is solemnly placing the ring on the Virgin's finger, and holding the flowering staff, the symbol that he is the chosen one
the polygonal temple in the style of Bramante dominates the structure of this composition
14. Andrea Mantegna
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
La Lamentation sur le Christ mort
1483
an intensely poignant depiction of a biblical tragedy …
the body of Christ on a marble slab
the Virgin Mary, Saint John and St. Mary Magdalene weeping for his death
the composition produces a great emotional impact, accentuated by the extreme foreshortening
19. Gentile Bellini e Giovanni Bellini
Saint Mark Preaching in a Square of Alexandria in Egypt
Prédication de Saint Marc à Alexandrie
1504-1507
set in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria ...
Saint Mark preaching
a basilica is surrounded by high-walled buildings and minarets
a group of mysteriously white-veiled Arab women, with robed and turbaned men
camels and a giraffe as exotic elements that remind the viewer that this is an Egyptian city
and
members of the San Marco confraternity
a composed and serene image, without conflict, hinting at the potential for peace brought about through trade contacts
between Venice and its Muslim neighbours
26. Giovanni Bellini
Pietà
1460
one of the most moving paintings in the history of art …
three figures in the foreground behind which is an infinite horizon
the grief of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist
not just religious passion but human passion
HAEC FERE QUUM GEMITUS TURGENTIA LUMINA PROMANT: BELLINI POTERAT FLERE IOANNIS OPUS
When these swelling eyes evoke groans, this work of Giovanni Bellini could shed tears
34. Piero della Francesca
The Virgin with Child, Angels and Saints, Pala Montefeltro
La Conversation sacrée, Pala Montefeltra
1472-1474
the Virgin seated on a throne, holding the sleeping Child
St. John the Baptist, St. Bernardine, St. Jerome beating his breast with a stone, St. Francis displaying the stigmata, St. Peter
Martyr with the wound on his head and St. John the Evangelist
and
kneeling in front of the sacred group, Federico da Montefeltro in the dress of a military commander
an work dense in symbols:
the ostrich’s egg represents the miraculous maternity of the Virgin but is also a heraldic emblem of the Montefeltro family
the sleeping Child alludes to maternity and at the same time to death, supporting the hypothesis of the funerary destination of
the work
40. Vittore Carpaccio
Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
Présentation de la Vierge au Temple
1502 - 1504
presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
… with enchanting details: a domesticated gazelle and a rabbit in the foreground
46. Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), Le Caravage
Supper at Emmaus
Le Souper à Emmaüs
1606
painted on the Colonna estate in Paliano where Caravaggio he sought refuge after fleeing Rome for slaying Ranuccio Tomassoni
the painting inevitably invites comparison with the National Gallery version of the same subject:
the expansive theatrical gestures have become understated and natural
the shadows are darkened
the effect is to emphasize presence more than drama
53. Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti), Le Tintoret
The Finding of the Body of Saint Mark
La découverte du corps de saint Marc
1562-1566
Tommaso Rangone, “grand guardian” of the Scuola di San Marco in Venice, commissioned Tintoretto in 1562 to paint a cycle
depicting episodes associated with the saint, one of which is the Pinacoteca’s Finding of the Body of Saint Mark …
Venetians busily removing corpses from tombs along the right wall and from a crypt in the background
Saint Mark surrounded by a faint halo appears and beseeches the Venetians to stop, his body has been found and lies pale at his feet
an elder, the patron Rangone, kneels, acknowledging the miracle
a man possessed by devils adds to the miraculous tone of the episode
59. Lorenzo Lotto
Assumption of the Virgin
L'Assomption de la Vierge
1512
identified with the central compartment of the predella of the Altarpiece of the Deposition of Christ, in the Museo Civico of Jesi
here Lotto’s humour as well as his realism :
St. Thomas, the doubting apostle, the last to arrive, running to ask Our Lady to leave behind her belt
... the saint puts on his glasses to see if the Virgin Mary has really ascended into heaven
65. Francesco Hayez
The Kiss
Le Baiser
1859
probably the most sensual and spell-binding kiss ever to grace a canvas …
the most widely reproduced Italian painting of the whole of the 19th century
created with the aim of symbolizing the love of the motherland and thirst for life on the part of the young nation that had
emerged from the Second War of Independence
the patriotic message enshrined in the colours: the red stockings, green lapel on the cloak and blue and white gown allude to
the flags of Italy and France
71. Pellizza Da Volpedo (Giuseppe Pellizza)
Human Flood
L’Inondation
1895-1896
a monumental scene of the Flood of striking laborers …
but the canvas was left incomplete by the dissatisfied artist
Pellizza da Volpedo returned to the subject in a new painting, Fourth Estate, now at Museo del Novecento, Milan
78. Amedeo Modigliani
Enfant gras
L'Enfant gras
1915
a study for a portrait of a young woman ...
... "either I am blind or Italy will have to make up its mind to recognize in Modigliani a draftsman who can stand alongside its
classics of the past." Lamberto Vitali
(the collector’s precocious admiration for the Tuscan painter, whose work he had come across at the Venice Biennale in 1922)
it dates from 1915, the year in which Modigliani initiated “le grand style,” consisting of a series of portraits and nudes with
highly geometricized traits: pictures with unreal tones
83. Umberto Boccioni
Riot in the Gallery
Rixe dans la galerie
1910
a shopping mall
a chaotic and frantic crowd
and
a shocking fight between two women
the movement of the two women generates an entrapment of those who are near them, and a stampede that's trying to reach
the center to watch the fight
89. olga_oes
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Brera’s Masterpieces
Chefs-d'œuvre de Brera
images and text credit www.
Music ThePianoGuys Story of My Life (One Direction - PianoCello
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90. Pinacoteca di Brera, an art museum in Milan, was founded in 1809 by Napoleon I, and it is one of
Italy's largest art galleries. Its original collection was that of the Accademia di Belle Arti, though its
most important works were acquired later.
The gallery is housed in a 17th-century palace that was originally built, from plans by Francesco
Maria Ricchini, as a Jesuit college.
Raphael's Sposalizio (the Marriage of the Virgin) was the key painting of the early collection, and the
Academy increased its cultural scope by taking on associates across the First French Empire.
In 1882, the Paintings Gallery was separated from the Academy.