Art connoisseurs who liked the Renaissance Florence exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada in 2005 will love the gallery’s latest exhibit, which will bring arguably some of the most important works of art in the world to the capital.
Designed as a sequel to the Florence exhibit, Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome will bring together works —from one of the most important periods in art history — for the first time, said deputy director and chief curator of the National Gallery of Canada Dr. David Franklin.
People don’t need to come to the exhibit with a lot of knowledge to appreciate these works, said Franklin.
The works are filled with human emotion, and in some cases, they are terrifying and forbidding, Franklin said.
The exhibition, which consists of about 160 works — 25 of which are owned by the gallery — is organized into 10 rooms pope by pope, from Julius II in 1503 to Clement VIII in 1606.
There are two ways to go through the exhibition, said Franklin — by papal history or to look at the artistic and stylistic revolutions of the art.
The exhibit begins with the works of Michelangelo and Raphael, arguably two of the most important artists in the world, but also features the paintings and drawings by Titian, El Greco, Vasari, Barocci and Annibale Carracci.
“The vast majority of these works have been generously loaned to us by prestigious arts institutions and individual collectors throughout Europe and North America,” said NGC director Marc Mayer. “Given their rarity, the gallery is privileged to be the sole venue for this exhibition.”
The exhibit opens tomorrow and runs through Sept. 7.
