Every work of art is a surprise. But even more so when dogs, cats, serpents, birds and monkeys make way for more unusual animals, such as toads, for instance. And if the artist places a toad on its back under the figure of Archangel Michael, the mystery increases along with the curiosity. So what does this animal represent? At the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Madonna of the Towers, masterpiece by Bramantino, dating back to the start of the XVI Century, communicates, from the point of view of content, a clear position against the fear of heresy, the evident total defeat of evil through faith. The Virgin seated on a monumental marble throne, covered with a red drape, solemnly hands a palm to Saint Ambrose. The Saint is kneeling on the left, right in front of Archangel Michael who entrusts the effigy of the work’s patron to Baby Jesus who is seated on the lap of the Virgin, ready to receive it. In this symmetrical game of mirrors where the subjects correspond (the two angels are complementary as are the two towers behind them), the two symbols of evil are only glimpsed, placed at the bottom of the painting by the artist. The dead man at the foot of Ambrose is the great heresiarch Arius, symbol of Aryanism, ideally defeated by the faith of the Saint. The disturbing image of the toad placed by Bramantino below Michael represents wickedness defeated.
The exhibition retraces the main stages of the career of one of the female protagonists of the artistic avant-garde of the second half of the twentieth century - Dadamaino - from 1959 to her death, presented through 80 works distributed along the entire route of the Museum.
For the first time, Palazzo Reale celebrates the talent of Giuseppe De Nittis in a monographic exhibition by exhibiting around 90 paintings, including oils and pastels, from the main public and private collections, both Italian and foreign.
150 years after the birth of the Impressionist movement, an exhibition compares the personalities and works of two painters, Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who contributed decisively to the fortunes of Impressionism and who influenced future generations of artists.