A trip in the golden season of Italian painting, namely the 19th century: the exhibition “From Hayez to Boldini: faces and souls of the Italian painting of 19th century“, scheduled until 11 June 2017 at Palazzo Martinengo in Brescia, celebrates the masterpieces of the greatest exponents of Divisionism, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, the Macchiaioli movement and Scapigliatura: Hayez, Canova, Boldini and De Nittis, just to mention some of them. An exhibition consisting of more than 100 selected paintings, including public and private collections, that will allow a clear understanding of this historical-artisitic period.
“From Hayez to Boldini: faces and souls of the Italian painting of 19th century”: the works
The exhibition opens with a masterpiece that fully reflects the standards of neoclassicism: Amore e Psiche by Antonio Canova. This artistic movements finds also space in Andrea Appiani’s works, able to express grace with a few brushstrokes. The second part of the exhibition represents Romanticism and one of its most important exponents, Francesco Hayez. Its masterpiece Maria Stuarda sale al patibolo is on display for the first time in this space. Further to romanticism, the third part of the exhibition, set up on the mezzanine floor, foresees the presence of Macchiaioli painters. This is a famous Florentine artistic movement, whose artists represented reality through color and light.
And after experiencing the Florentine art of the Macchiaioli, visitors are rushed into an area with Oriental-looking paintings and then into the scenes of everyday life virtuously imprinted on canvas by Domenico Induno, Guglielmo Ciardi and Giacomo Favretto, among the others. The next step is dedicated to Divisionism, the artistic movement characterized by the depth of the color and the ability to get symbolic meaning on canvas. The most important exponents are Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, Gaetano Previati and Giovanni Segantini. Finally, a hint of Belle Époque and the Parisian cultural climate thanks to the wonderful works of Federico Zandomeneghi, Giuseppe De Nittis and Giovanni Boldini.
A delightful journey, therefore, within the Italian paintings of the 19th century. An extremely flourishing period from the artistic point of view, which has much contributed to the culture of our country.
