A new exhibition at Bergamo, Italy’s Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery explores the world of Renaissance painter Raphael from the 1400s to the modern day, in “Raphael and the Echo of the Myth.” The show runs through May 6th and is a project of the Accademia Carrara Foundation.
It is divided into various sections dedicated to the master and the influence he has had across the centuries and on many generations of successive artists. Sixty works from Italian and international museums, as well as from private collections around the world make up the exhibition, 14 of which are signed by Raphael. Works by masters such as Raphael’s father, Giovanni Santi; Pietro Perugino, Raphael’s teacher; artists of the period, Pinturicchio and Luca Signorelli, tell the story of Raphael’s artistic training and his initial cultural and stylistic points of reference.
The show brings together for the first time in Europe three components of the Pala Colonna. These are on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of London and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The exhibit also brings together three components of the Pala del Beato Nicola da Tolentino from the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Palazzo Reale National Museum in Pisa.
The artist’s talent is shown through works that clearly influenced later artists, such as the famed “Fornarina.” The oil-on-wood painting from the year 1520, served as an endless source of inspiration for many 19th century artists, including Giuseppe Sogni, Francesco Gandolfi, Felice Schiavoni and Cesare Mussini. The show has a dedicated website, raffaellesco.it and a substantial program of related activities and educational events.
