Tuesday, October 11, 2016

“The Ages of Gold: Reflections of Piero della Francesca”




Galleria Ivan Bruschi
Piazza San Francesco, 1 – 52100 Arezzo, Italy 
05 AUGUST 2016to 07 MAY 2017

 From: 
As good as gold: Piero della Francesca - Masterful multiple-approach artist 
by Oonagh Stransky (images added):
Patti Smith sings about Piero della Francesca in “Constantine’s Dream”. Cezanne, Seurat, De Chirico, Morandi, Guston and Hockney all found inspiration in Piero’s masterpieces. Camus sees the great artist as the first existentialist; Pasolini finds in him Marxist and homoerotic ideas; Stendhal practically gave himself a syndrome because of Piero’s work. In The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, Kip and Hana have an epiphany in front of “The History of the True Cross” fresco cycle.

Piero della Francesca’s art is as much a mirror as a shadow, reflecting complex thoughts, provoking creativity and eluding clear definition. His work shows a devotion to and understanding of geometry: shape and form illustrate spiritual mysteries. His images speak to that which is both calculable and incalculable. This complex, multiple approach is at the heart of a conceptual exhibit now open to the public in a new impressive space in Arezzo...

The exhibition is divided into five themes: Divine Proportion, which explores Piero’s understanding of geometry; God in Nature shows how the artist uses plant life; Divine Beauty looks at the faces and expressions of the female figures; God in Man revels in the study of the male figure, and In Hoc Signo Vinces explores Piero’s adoration of the Cross as shape, object and symbol.

Each of the five themes employs enlarged hi-resolution details from Piero della Francesca’s major works, including the  



Baptism of Christ from the National Gallery in London, (details)
 
the Holy Conversation from the Pinacoteca di Brera, 



the Madonna of Senigallia from the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, 


the Maddalena from the Duomo of Arezzo, the Resurrection 



 the Madonna of Mercy from the Museo Civico in Sansepolcro


and, obviously, The Legend of the True Cross from the church next door...