June 26 – The excellence of Italian art and history has always had great success abroad, and in recent years especially thanks to ad hoc organized exhibitions in major museums. And Russia has seen a series of cultural events, most notably the 2011 ” Caravaggio: Italian museums”, the biggest show on the Milanese painter ever organized outside Italy. The last chapter of this trend is “Titian (1488/90-1576). From the collections of the Italian Museums,” to be held at the Museum of Fine Arts “A. S. Pushkin” in Moscow throughout the summer, from today until September 29. The organization of the event was taken care of by the Russian museum, the Embassy of Italy in collaboration with the Ministry of Heritage and Culture and the Russian Ministry of Culture. The exhibition will include 11 of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance, from ten different museums in eight Italian cities. The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the importance of our provinces’ cultural heritage, in anticipation of the Year of the cross-Italy-Russia tourism, which will begin in September. The exhibition, curated by Professor Giovanni C. F. Villa, wants to retrace the artistic evolution of the great Italian artist. Born and almost always operating in Veneto, Titian, thanks to his unique ability in the use of colors, was able to influence his contemporaries and following generations. He worked for the most important patrons of Europe: the Pope, the King of Spain, the Este Gonzaga… serving as the first “European” painter, responding to new aesthetic requirements typical of the Renaissance period. The exhibition’s set up aims at reconstructing the entire artistic career of the painter, starting from the beginning, where the previous painting tradition is still present, then exploring the artist’s progressive search for expressive autonomy, which will lead to the abandonment, in the mid-1500s, of nature in favor of a revolutionary emotional tension. Titian’s works of sacred art are included as part of his portraiture production, known for his ability to combine the official character of the portraits while revealing the human side of his clients. This section demonstrates how Titian, while privileging chromatic relationships, doesn’t neglect compositions, reconciling monumentality with the original context, with a degree of realism later explored in the “Fine Venetian” gallery. The genre, reflecting the canon of Renaissance beauty, highlights “mythological poems,” also featured in the exhibition. There will also be works of the last period of his life, when, almost ninety years, Titian created atmospheres with strong emotional traits and devoid of tangible materiality.
