Last weekend to steak out a Renaissance artist at the National Galley of Art

     

"Come in to my abode, my pretty, and see what jewels I have to show you." One of Vittore Carpaccio's dragons, considered to be the devil.

Vittore Carpaccio, Saint George and the Dragon and Four Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint George (detail), 1516, oil on canvas, Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore, Benedicti Claustra Onlus, Venice

The first retrospective exhibition ever held outside Italy of a Renaissance artist's paintings and drawings will close Sunday at the National Gallery of Art.

Because few museums in the U.S. can boast of having any of his works, the name of Vittore Carpaccio (c.1460/1466–1525/1526) is unfamiliar to most Americans who more likely recognize his surname, chosen by a Venetian restauranter in 1963 for a special dish he cooked up for an ill countess.

Based on the artist's unique reds, the cook anointed  his special dish of raw meats, "steak carpaccio."

Vittore Carpaccio, Portrait of a Woman Holding a Book, c. 1500-1505, Denver Art Museum Collection, gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

The National Gallery show has mounted a glorious show of 45 paintings and 30 drawings by Carpaccio, a native Venetian, who made them for societies, churches, and wealthy families.

He painted large, colorful religious scenes from Bible chapters, and for individual patrons, his works were mostly secular, all in the era's style of flat faces, mostly lacking expressions (except when it comes to bored women).

For the wealthy, Carpaccio's figures are, naturally, dressed in the finest fashions of the day.

Carpaccio made several portraits which included women with books, which is commendable that patrons wanted him to paint subjects in intellectual pursuits, however, most women then didn't read to gain knowledge per se but to learn how to teach their children how to read. 

Wealthy families hired tutors to educate their daughters.  

Carpaccio's characters occasionally hint at a smile as in Portrait of a Woman Holding a Book, above, compared to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, whose mouth is more flirtacious than Carpaccio's Portrait. I suppose one must strain to catch a glimmer of a smile in Carpaccio's Woman, but my imagination permits me to see one because I want to see one. Rather like hearing what you want to hear other than what is really said. 

Since the two Italian artists lived about the same time [da Vinci, 1452-1519], might they have been trained in the same school?

Vittore Carpaccio, Two Women on a Balcony, c. 1492/1494, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Museo Correr,  Venice.This work has been reunited with its partner, Fishing and Fowling on the Lagoon, c. 1492/1494, from the J. Paul Getty Museum. Both were painted on the same wooden panel and believed to have been part of a folding door at a Venetian palace.  In the 1700s, the works were split in two but reunited to introduce the exhibition. The forlorn, sculpted women wait patiently on their husbands who are out fishing. (More than 500 years later, things remain the same.) 

Vittore Carpaccio, A Young Knight, 1510, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. This is a large painting, filled with symbols. Pick them out before you check the link

Another large painting is Carpaccio's The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand Christians on Mount Ararat, 1515, loaned by the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. It is based on the lives of the saints and 10,000 Christian converts killed by Romans and Muslims with whose empires Venice was engaged in conflict. Vasari mentions The Martyrdom in his 16th century Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

Vittore Carpaccio,The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand Christians on Mount Ararat, (detail) 1515, loaned by the Gallerie dell'Academia, Venice

Vittore Carpaccio, Allegorical Figure, (detail) c. 1498, private collection. She's probably "Virtue"; read below.

Vittore Carpaccio, Youth in a Landscape, (detail) c. 1498, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo. He is probably Hercules who weighs whether to follow "Virtue" (the woman above) or "Vice," pictured on another panel which is missing, and, of course, a woman. For all good Venetian fellows, Hercules chose "Virtue," laying the groundwork for them to follow.  A flowing landscape also connects these works, probably part of a chest. Giorgione was thought, originally, to have been the artist, according to the catalog. Until the 1930s, they were in a private Venetian collection, but the two female panels entered the New York art market in 1939 where "Vice" was swallowed up by...? And since absent from the public.  

Wherefore are thou, "Vice"?  To show up on "Antiques Roadshow"? Check your attic.  "Vice" looks like a twin of "Virtue" (disguised, per usual), looking in the opposite direction towards Hercules, according to an illustration found in the catalog.  "Virtue" and "Vice" originally appeared on either side of our hero, much like you see the morning "tee-hee" talk show hosts positioned on CNN and Fox.  Without a doubt, those producers studied Carpaccio to design their sets.

At the exhibition's exit,  one of Carpaccio's dragons bids "arrivederci" to departing guests. 

On the exhibition website, NGA’s John Strand writes Carpaccio drew his dragons smaller than imagination, likely because they could be more easily "defeated." Dragons were a symbol of the devil and Carpaccio makes them into scary creatures with the  teeth of daggers. 

Carpaccio is a favorite son of Venice which, at the turn of the 16th century, was a thriving marketplace, equivalent to New York City today and what was Hong Kong. The city looks forward to the artist's return March 18 to the Pacazzo Ducale, where his works will be on view through June 18, 2023.

A large catalog with 300 illustrations, many in color, has over 340 pages and is available in the shops, or it was. Since I now cannot find it, perhaps it's sold out and once seen, readers will understand why!

I nominate Susan Marsh and her team of book designers for the Academy Award in Book Covers for their magnificent choices of Carpaccio's, Two Women on a Balcony, c. 1492/1494, who grace the cover and look longingly towards the book's spine where, on the back cover, Carpaccio's men enjoy a sporting good time fishing and boating in Fishing and Fowling on the Lagoon, c. 1492/1494.

If you can't find the catalog, the National Gallery has plenty of other Carpaccio items for you to consider, ranging from prints, magnets, china, cards, and (the symbol of Venice) the Lion of St. Mark Corset Cuff Bracelet, made especially for NGA ($370, choice of red or blue with gold).

Valentines, anyone?

Peter Humfrey of the University of St. Andrews was the curator, in collaboration with Andrea Bellieni from the Museo Civici di Venezia and NGA's Gretchen Hirschauer.

What: Vittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice

When: Through February 12, 2023. The National Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.

Where: West Building, Main Floor National Gallery of Art, 6th and Constitution, Washington

How much: Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: (202) 737-4215

Accessibility information: (202) 842-6905

patricialesli@gmail.com

Renaissance prints at the National Gallery of Art

Daniel Hopfer, Hieronymus Hopfer, Emperor Charles V, 1520 (1521?), etching (iron) with open biting and unique contemporary hand-coloring in green, red, yellow, pink and brown, Purchased as the Gift of Ladislaus and Beatrix von Hoffmann, National Gallery of Art. Charles excommunicated Martin Luther (below) for his radical teachings. 

Albrecht Dürer, Saint Jerome Penitent in the Wilderness, c. 1496, engraving on laid paper, Joan and David Maxwell Fund, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund and The Ahmanson Foundation, National Gallery of Art

If you missed the exhibition of Renaissance prints at the National Gallery of Art, here's a look at a few of them which held the most fascination for me.

The show celebrated NGA's recent acquisition of works by printmakers from Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands who drew religious and allegorical scenes, Martin Luther, Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V, and more.

I love allegory and its hidden messages which we don't see enough today.

This fellow who looks like he's wearing a chef's cap is Martin Luther, 1523, who, in the drawing, wears a monk's cowl and a theology professor's cap. The artist has framed his head with a halo. The Latin translates: Luther's figure will decay, his Christian spirit will never die. The label copy says the artist was Daniel Hopfer after Lucas Cranach the Elder, From the 

Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund, National Gallery of Art

 
Lucas van Doetechum, Johannes van Doetechum the Elder, Hans Vredeman de Vries, Hieronymus Cock, Perspective View of a Street, 1560, etching with engraving on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art. Since the four artists identified with Perspective are all Netherlandish, one suspects the street is Netherlandish, too, although its location is not listed. 

Jan Sadeler I, Joos van Winghe, A Pleasure House, 1588, engraving on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art.

Debauchery galore! See the woman on the right accepting money while she looks the other way at the man who's involved with another woman while simultaneously attempting to lure the first woman.  Harvey Weinstein in the 16th century!  Even the statue in the center contributes to the melee.  It's always the woman's fault.  The Latin inscription at the bottom reads: Wine and women will cause the wise to apostatize and he who joins in formication will be unrighteousness. My words! The devil enters at left to lead them to Hell's hinterland.  You better watch out; you better not cry.

Detail of A Pleasure House

Detail of A Pleasure House

Philip Galle after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, c. 1560-1563, Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art. The label copy said we'd better prepare for Judgment Day. On the left five virgins ignore the enticements of the musician above to work on their handicraft and keep their lamps lit while awaiting the groom (Jesus Christ). The women on the right are sinful creatures who've given up their lamps to enjoy the bagpiper's music and dance. The Latin inscription at the bottom reads something like: We extinguish our lamps with your oil and it is not enough for us and you which means...? Keep the lamps lit (?)! Fascinating, whatever the meaning and intention. Something for the preachers to talk about on Sunday.

Hans Lützelburger, Master NH, Battle of Naked Men and Peasants, 1522, woodcut on laid paper, Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund, National Gallery of Art.  Lützelburger had been a blockcutter in Augsburg on several projects for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and after the emperor died in 1519, Lützelburger made this sheet as an advertisement of his abilities as an artist of the human form. Note the amputated limbs at the bottom. While fierce battle ensues, see the calm discussion on the right. 

Detail of Battle of Naked Men and Peasants

The drawings depict national military prowess and moral messages, demonstrating popular themes and the leaders Northern European Renaissance artists of the 15th and 16th century drew for growing audiences.

The prints were relatively inexpensive and easy to transport for more to see and to buy.

In Pleasure House, alcohol loosens societal and personal constraints to allow excuses for the search for carnal pleasures! It's interesting to delve into them and find what you may.

The NGA's Brooks Rich, associate curator of old master prints, curated.

More examples of the works may be found at the link above. For personal viewing, you may enter titles and/or the artist's name at NGA's website to find their current locations at the Gallery.


What was: The Renaissance in the North: New Prints and Perspectives


When: The National Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.

Where: National Gallery of Art, 6th and Constitution, Washington

How much: Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: (202) 737-4215

Accessibility information: (202) 842-6905

patricialesli@gmail.com 

Spain's Renaissance sculptor leaves Washington

From the exhibition: "This is Berruguete’s earliest surviving sculpture, which comes from a monastic church near Valladolid, the town in central Castile where the artist moved in 1522. Depicting the bound and tortured Christ as he is presented to jeering crowds on the way to his crucifixion, the figure is likely to have stood on an altar, perhaps as the central figure in a retablo (altarpiece). Berruguete’s treatment of the subject was unconventional in Castile. Instead of following tradition and covering Christ’s body with scourge marks and blood, Berruguete elicits sympathy from the viewer through other means. The cross-legged pose, slender limbs, and unsupported arms create a sense of unbalance that conveys Christ’s helplessness. The solution reflects works of art that Berruguete would have studied in Italy."

Alonso Berruguete, Ecce Homo, c. 1524, painted wood with gilding and silvering, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. © Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alonso Berruguete, Ecce Homo, c. 1524, painted wood with gilding and silvering, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. © Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain) /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alonso Berruguete, Ecce Homo, c. 1524, painted wood with gilding and silvering, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. © Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Spanish (Castile), The Miracle of the Palm Tree on the Flight to Egypt, c. 1490-1510, painted walnut with gilding, lent by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Artists in Castile, such as Berruguete, often turned for inspiration to Northern artists, such as Martin Schongauer whose work is below/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Martin Schongauer, The Flight into Egypt, c. 1470-1475, engraving, Natioonal Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection 

From the exhibition: "Painted by Alonso Berruguete’s talented father, Pedro, this exquisite scene of the Virgin and Child shows the enduring influence of Flemish painting on the arts of Castile. [The son] Berruguete must have started his career in command of a similar style of painting — now called the Hispanoex-Flemish style."

Pedro Berruguete, The Virgin and Child Enthroned, c. 1500, oil on panel, Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Museo de San Isidro, Los Orígenes de Madrid. 

Alonso Berruguete, Calvary Group, Crucified Christ Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, from the retablo mayor (high altarpiece) of San Benito el Real, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alonso Berruguete, Calvary Group, Crucified Christ Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, from the retablo mayor (high altarpiece) of San Benito el Real, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. © Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alonso Berruguete, Calvary Group, Crucified Christ Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, from the retablo mayor (high altarpiece) of San Benito el Real, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alonso Berruguete, detail from the Calvary Group, Crucified Christ Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, from the retablo mayor (high altarpiece) of San Benito el Real, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Alonso Berruguete, Saint John the Evangelist (Calvary group), from the retablo mayor (high altarpiece) of San Benito el Real, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From the exhibition: "One of Berruguete’s most celebrated sculptures, this group depicts the moment when Abraham is about to sacrifice his son Isaac on God’s orders. As the anguished Abraham looks heavenward in disbelief, his terrified son kneels and awaits his fate. Before Abraham could carry out the act, however, God appeared and offered him a ram to sacrifice instead."

Alonso Berruguete, The Sacrifice of Isaac, from the retablo mayor (high altarpiece) of San Benito el Real, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. © Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain);/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alonso Berruguete, The Entombment of Christ, 1540s or 1550s. Because of the distance, transportation, and cost to carry marble from Italy, alabaster was used for The Entombment of Christ. The "frenetic energy" displayed suggests the influence of Donatello whom Berruguete would have studied in Florence.

From the exhibition: "This is one of only a handful of paintings that survive from Berruguete’s time in Italy. It depicts Salome, who ordered Saint John the Baptist’s beheading. Here she holds his head on a silver platter. Her long fingers, elegant pose, demure gaze, and idealized features are consistent with mannerism, a style of art that was becoming fashionable in Florence during the 1510s. Berruguete was in the vanguard of the movement. Like other mannerist artists, he favored exaggerated forms and complicated poses over the restrained beauty of earlier Renaissance art."

Alonso Berruguete, Salome, c. 1514–1517, oil on panel, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence.


About 45 works by Alonso Berruguete (1488 or 1490 -1561), the Spanish sculpture icon, are on display for one day more at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the first time his works are the subject of an exclusive exhibition outside Spain.

He was, says Wikipedia, "the most important sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance."

Sculpture, paintings, and works on paper comprise the show which includes one of Berruguete's earliest recorded works, Salome, dating from 1514-1517 which he made while studying for 13 years in Italy.

After the death of his father, Pedro Berruguete, an artist in his own right (who also has a painting in the show, The Virgin and Child Enthroned), Berruguete moved to Italy in his late teens.

In Italy Alonso studied under Michelangelo, and learned to draw, becoming the first Spanish artist to "create a recognizable body of drawings," many which are included in the exhibition. (About 25 of his drawings are known to exist.)

After finishing Salome, Alonso returned to Spain the next year, and was appointed court painter to Charles I (later, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V).

Following Spain's tradition, Alonso crafted wooden sculptures and altarpieces, retablos, which form the basis for the exhibition here.

His long, slender figures and sharp angles compare to those of El Greco (1541-1614) whom Alonso predated by 53 years.

From Washington Berruguete moves to the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas where the show will open March 29 and close July 26 this year.

The curators, C.D. Dickerson III of the National Gallery of Art and Mark McDonald of the Metropolitan Museum of Art edited the catalogue* which is the first comprehensive Berruguete study in English. The Meadows' curator was Wendy Sepponen.

Organizers of the display are the National Gallery and the Meadows, in collaboration with the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid,
 
The people of the United States and visitors are grateful to the Buffy and William Cafritz Family Fund and the Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art for sponsoring and making the presentation possible.

*Available in the shops: $55; 244 pages, 175 illustrations, hard cover

What: Alonso Berruguete: First Sculptor of Renaissance Spain

When: Now through February 17, 2020. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and on Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Where: The West Building at the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

How much: Admission to the National Gallery of Art is always free.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com

Sunday is Verrocchio's last day in Washington

The star attraction at the Andrea del Verrocchio exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington produces wonder and admiration.  He is David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1465, bronze with partial gilding, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence/Photo by Patricia Leslie

He slew the enemy. A front view of Andrea del Verrocchio's David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1465, bronze with partial gilding, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Missing is the stone which David used to kill Goliath. It was made separately and was attached to the giant’s head. One of Verrocchio's pupils, Leonardo da Vinci, may have been the model for David/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Andrea del Verrocchio, Head of a Gorgon, c. 1480, terracotta, private collection. This scary fellow was used to ward off evil, part of a frieze in a Roman courtyard of a palace which was destroyed in 1936, according to the label copy. (I guess his power didn't work in 1936.) Gorgons appear on body armor of the young warrior and Alexander the Great below.  Note the similarity between the words "gorgon" and "gargoyle," the latter which is found on cathedrals around the world, including Washington's National Cathedral, both forms designed to repel evil (in the Cathedral's case, water).    

"What sayeth you, sinner? Your secrets are no more!" this gorgon seems to say to me. Not such a bad thing! I need one of these to wear around my neck.  What say you a merchandiser has them ready for me? Methinks I am carried away by this gorgon!  You see what art can do!  I wonder if his locks give him extra power? Get thee away, Delilah!  This is my gorgon, not yours! This gorgon has sent my mind a'flyin'.  Time to buzz off, but the young maiden below, despite her loveliness, does not so inspire me/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Andrea del Verrocchio, Bust of a Young Woman, c. 1470, marble, The Frick Collection.  White lines in the background are reflections in the protective glass/Photo by Patricia Leslie


"After Andrea del Verrocchio," The Entombment of Christ, pre-1945 plaster cast after the original terra cotta of c. 1475/1480, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst and damaged in World War II/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Andrea del Verrocchio, Sketch Model for the Monument of Cardinal Niccolò Forteguerri, 1476, terracotta, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  According to the label copy:
"This small clay sculpture is one of the few sketch models to survive from the early Renaissance. Verrocchio in 1476 won the commission for a multifigure marble project for the Cathedral of Pistoia (near Florence) by submitting a design, possibly this relief. It shows Christ enthroned amid angels, blessing the Cardinal who kneels among the virtues Faith, Hope, and Charity."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Andrea del Verrocchio, Madonna and Child, c. 1465/1470, plaster with traces of polychromy, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, R.T. Miller Jr. Fund. Called one of Verrocchio's "most influential designs," the mother and child stand at a window or balcony. The label draws attention to Mary's left hand, an "elegant gesture" found in several works by Verrocchio and his followers/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The woman examines the drawing, Project for a Funerary Monument (Tartagni Tomb) c. 1477/1480, attributed to Verrocchio and an assistant. Its partner in this gallery is a bronze candlestick (1.57 metres high) which Verrocchio made in 1468 for the palace of the Florentine city government and the commemoration of a 1468 peace treaty which ended war between Florence and Venice.  On loan from the Rijksmuseum/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Andrea del Verrocchio, Head of a Woman with Braided Hair, 1475/1478, black chalk on charcoal and more, on loan from the Trustees of the British Museum, London. Verrocchio was one of the first to use black chalk. He made shadows by smudging with his finger or a piece of leather.  

Oh, to ever be this peaceful! But, on closer examination, the pretty lass does not appear to be peaceful, for her downcast eyes show sadness, and her hair braids suggest a head full of snakes, like mythological gorgons (see above) from Greek literature and the three sisters whose hair was the home of living, poisonous snakes. Perhaps she is Eve, downfallen over the future, or Mary, the mother of Jesus, also saddened by what lies ahead/

Photo by Patricia Leslie

Andrea del Verrocchio, Giuliano de' Medici, c. 1475/1478, terracotta, Andrew W. Mellon Collection.  I love this man, this bust.  He is supremely confident, an enormous allure. And look at the protective gorgon (please see above) on his breastplate contrasting here and below (Alexander the Great) with the subjects' "calm demeanor."

 

Andrea del Verrocchio and assistant, Alexander the Great, c. 1480/1485, marble, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Therese K. Straus. Another of my favorites. He exudes confidence, fortified by a gorgon.  But after all, he is Alexander the Great (looking to be about 14 years old in this likeness), and perhaps a gift from the Medicis to the King of Hungary.

Kaywin Feldman, the director of the National Gallery of Art, welcomes visitors and dignitaries to the Verrocchio exhibition. David with the Head of Goliath watches proceedings from his center perch behind, from left, Larry Di Rica, Bank of America; Ms. Feldman, His Excellency Armando Varricchio, ambassador of Italy; and Andrew Butterfield, guest curator/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo di Credi, and Pietro Perugino were his pupils.

Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio were collaborators.

He was the teacher of teachers of Raphael and Michelangelo. 

He was Renaissance master, Andrea del Verrocchio, (c. 1435-1488) whose works are set to leave the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Sunday after a four-month stay. 

Washington has been the site of the first U.S. comprehensive 
Verrocchio exhibition represented by 50 of his wide-ranging works which include altars, sculpture, portraiture, sketches, and more in a presentation subtitled: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence.


Verrocchio was supported by commissions by the powerful and wealthy Medici family of three generations (1389-1492) which ruled Florence and commissioned many of his works, possibly, David.  He sculpted tomb monuments for their church in San Lorenzo, including the heralded brothers' double tomb in 1473, called "a wonder of the world."

The problem of correctly separating Verrocchio's works from that of his workshop assistants is constantly referenced, whenever any kind of study about him is performed.  In the show here, the National Gallery has exercised extreme care to correctly identify the artist and where there is doubt, to show by the words  "and assistant" or "assistants." 

If you can't get to all the venues around the globe which have loaned the pieces, seize what is likely this last opportunity to see them together. 

A hardbound catalogue with 279 color illustrations and almost 400 pages is available in the shops ($60). Links to two films (one, three minutes, and another, 19 minutes) may be found at the website.

Bank of America is the lead sponsor of the exhibition with support from the Buffy and William Cafritz Family Fund.
  
What: Verrocchio:  Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence

When: Now through January 12, 2020. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and on Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Where: The West Building at the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

How much: Admission to the National Gallery of Art is always free.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215


patricialesli@gmail.com