(January 4, 2017) Until January 19 in New York one can admire the Dying Cleopatra, the Guido Cagnacci work from Brera’s Pinacoteca. An Italian painter (1601-1663) of the Baroque period, whose works are characterized by the use of chiaroscuro and by the sensuality displayed by most of the subjects, Cagnacci has partaken in the artistic scene of the Seventeenth Century, interpreting a role of primary importance, unbeatable in depicting scene of great religious stories. But the genius of Cagnacci is not all about that. The artist reached the peak of his career in those works, as so-called “quadroni forlivesi” with the Glory of St. Mercuriale and St. Valerian, in which he was able to create sets of clear skies, impossible and yet real, where space is dilated in a mental dimension able to contain the overflowing physicality of the figures. Guido Cagnacci is not so well-known outside the small circle of curators, collectors and connoisseurs. Nevertheless, he is a major artist, and the fact that three different and important venues in New York City are hosting exhibits of three of his masterpieces is a cause for celebration. Dying Cleopatra is the painting on view at the Italian Cultural Institute; the Norton Simon Museum has exceptionally loaned to the Frick Collection Cagnacci’s Repentant Magdalene and at the Metropolitan Museum visitors can admire another version of Cagnacci’s Dying Cleopatra. The exhibition at the Italian Institute of Culture in New York integrates, in fact, a rediscovery project for the American public and the enhancement of the artistic production of Guido Cagnacci, started from the month of October, with an exhibition curated by the Frick Collection, dedicated to his masterpiece the Penitent Magdalene, from the Norton Simon Art Foundation in Pasadena. In collaboration with the Brera’s Pinacoteca, and following the recent intervention of restoration directed by Letizia Lodi, the IIC exhibition in New York is accompanied by a publication edited by Lisa Hilton and Letizia Lodi, published by Skira. (PO /red)
