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| | This is one of six smaller rooms or cabinets in an enfilade containing a rich collection of Italian painting. The paintings by 16th- and 17th-century Italian artists are hung here, as in the majority of the museum's rooms, in the tradition of the "tapestry" manner, covering almost the entire surface of the walls like a carpet. The cabinet contains a large number of fairly small paintings representing different artistic schools and styles and it is a real joy for the visitor to view them with unhurried attention. One's attention is drawn to Sandro Botticelli's Adoration of the Shepherds (National Gallery, Washington), dominated, as Alexander Benois wrote, "by a soft, gentle mood of the confessional, the bitter charm of repentance and the pure joy of absolution" ). Domenico Fetti's Portrait of an Actor and The Virgin in Glory are marked by a refined colour scheme and broad, unrestrained manner of painting, while Giovanni Battista Moroni's Male Portrait is striking for the subtle characterization of the sitter and the fundamental absence of idealization. |
