Part of a six-city international tour, with 41 works by some of the greatest names in European art—including Giovanni Bellini, Sandro Botticelli, Domenichino, Francesco Guardi, Salvator Rosa, and Titian—“Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Painting from Glasgow Museums”will examine the evolution of thematic and stylistic trends in Italian art from religious paintings of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance to secular neoclassical and genre paintings of the nineteenth century. The remarkable regional and historical breadth of the exhibition will also showcase the outstanding quality of Glasgow Museums’ collection.
With works by some of the greatest names in European art, Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Painting from Glasgow Museums will examine the thematic and stylistic developments in Italian art—from the religious paintings of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance to the secular neoclassical and genre paintings of the nineteenth century. The remarkable regional and historical breadth of the exhibition will also showcase the outstanding quality of Glasgow Museums’ collection.
Organized into five chronological sections, Of Heaven and Earth will include paintings originating from the principal artistic centers of Italy—Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Siena, Naples, and Venice—and will present the works of artists such as Giovanni Bellini, Sandro Botticelli, Domenichino, Francesco Guardi, Salvator Rosa, and Titian alongside those of lesser-known masters. Many of these works are being conserved specifically in anticipation of this tour. The exhibition will highlight significant new research and discoveries relating to attribution, dates, provenance, infrared analysis, and the reconstruction of fragmented altarpieces.
The accompanying catalogue will feature essays on Glasgow’s collections and the museum’s Italian paintings by Guest Curator Peter Humfrey, an internationally renowned specialist in Italian art history who teaches at the University of St. Andrews.
Sandro Botticelli, The Annunciation, ca. 1490–95. Tempera on panel.
Glasgow Museums; Bequeathed by Archibald McLellan, 1854.
Giuseppe Cesari (called Il Cavalier d’Arpino)
The Archangel Michael and the Rebel Angels, ca. 1592–93
Oil on copper
32 1⁄16 x 25 11⁄16 in.
Glasgow Museums; Bequeathed by Archibald McLellan, 1854
Copyright CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collections
Carlo Dolci
Adoration of the Magi, ca. 1633–34
Oil on canvas
58 1⁄8 x 44 11⁄16 in.
Glasgow Museums; Bequeathed by Archibald McLellan, 1854
Copyright CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collections
Giovanni Bellini
Virgin and Child, ca. 1480–85
Oil and tempera on panel
37 15⁄16 x 31 13⁄16 in.
Glasgow Museums; Bequeathed by Mrs. John Graham-Gilbert, 1877
Copyright CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collections
Titian
Christ and the Adulteress, ca. 1508–10
Oil on canvas
72 1⁄4 x 89 in.
Glasgow Museums; Bequeathed by Archibald McLellan, 1854
Copyright CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collections
Exhibition itinerary:
Oklahoma City Museum of Art (August 22–November 17, 2013);
Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (December 13, 2013–March 9, 2014);
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY (April 17–July 13, 2014);
Milwaukee Art Museum (October 1, 2014–January 4, 2015);
Santa Barbara Museum of Art (February 6, 2015–May 3, 2015);
and one additional venue to be determined.
