A magician of the brush, an offstage scenographer, a master of illusion - these are just a few of the terms used to describe Giambattista Tiepolo, a giant of art in the Europe of the 1700s. Tiepolo left an important series of frescoes in Milan, from Palazzo Archinto to Palazzo Clerici to Palazzo Casati Dugnani, yet the city has never hosted an exhibition dedicated to him. This autumn, the Gallerie d’Italia marks the 250th anniversary of the death of this Master with an exhibition that recognises the international scope of the artist - his work in the royal court of Dresden, his spectacular “special effects” at the Palace of Würzburg, the exceptional decorative work, executed in his later years, for Charles III in Madrid, where he died on March 27, 1770. At the exhibition spaces of Intesa Sanpaolo in Piazza Scala, around forty signed works highlight the immensity of Tiepolo in a dialogue with other greats of his times - a wonderful occasion to admire a vast array of mythological painting and masterpieces of religious art, giant canvases created for Venetian nobles and frescoes rarely seen in public, such as the Milanese works created for Sant’Ambrogio and Palazzo Gallarati Scotti. Drawings and sketches are also on hand to offer behind-the-scenes looks at the making of masterpieces, including the Banquet of Anthony and Cleopatra for the Palazzo Labia in Venice and the masterpieces created for the Bavarian residence of Prince-Bishop Carlo Filippo of Franconia as he journeyed among the most refined artistic centres of Europe during the 1700s.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, Giovanna Garzoni and Fede Galizia - great artists forgotten by history but well worth rediscovering.
The Pinacoteca of Brera, the Italian Louvre of Italy, Called for by Napoleon
From "The Marriage of the Virgin" by Raphael to the monumental sculptures of Canova, the masterpieces of the the Brera tell the story of a universal collection, part of the origins of modern Italy.
