The Images of Italy. Italian Painting and Graphic Arts of the 17th-19th centuries from the Hermitage Collection in the Kaliningrad Art Gallery

On 29 November 2011, an exhibit entitled Images of Italy. Italian Painting and Graphic Arts of the 17th-19th centuries from the Hermitage Collection opened in the Kaliningrad State Art Gallery.

This exhibit marks the conclusion of a large scale project “The Hermitage in Kaliningrad”, prepared by the State Hermitage Museum and the State Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” in cooperation with the government of the Kaliningrad Oblast.

This exhibit includes sixty works of art (forty paintings and twenty drawings) united by one theme, the art of the Italian masters and artists of other schools that were inspired by Italy. Both paintings demonstrating Italian influence on European painting as a whole and the most typical examples of various genres, in which the influence is the most tangible, are exhibited here.

Italian landscape is presented diversely. Here there are urban, and rural, and seaside views. One of the most impressive and original Dutch representatives of that genre was Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), who became famous for his numerous images of Italian nature. Quite often Berchem also referred to mythological subjects, “Sheppard’s Scene. Education of Jupiter” (1670s) can serve as an example of that. Crowded urban scenes popular in the 17th century are illustrated by the work of Johannes Lingelbach (1623/1624-1674), “The Market Square”, a wonderful composition by Oswald Achenbach (1827-1905), “Fireworks in Naples”, canvas by Angelo Inganni (1807-1880), “Milan Cathedral Square”, and by the painting of a famous Flemish genre painter Jan Miel (1599(?)-1664), “Charlatan”, and views of Palermo painted by Teodoro Duclere (1815-1869).

Beauty of Italian nature is celebrated by peculiar rural pastoral idylls, numerous views of gulfs, bays and harbours. Together with images of country villas and palaces with waterfalls and parks they were extremely popular in the 17th-19th centuries. Such landscapes were created by many painters; among them there are world famous painters, such as Claude Lorrain (1600-1682), Jacob Philippe Hackert (1737-1807), Gaspar Duge (1615-1675), whose art is represented at the exhibition by works that characterize their creative work in the most impressive way.

Monuments, churches, palaces became “characters” of urban views. “Veduta” (“view”, “point of view” from Italian), oriented towards the tastes of numerous travellers who wished to purchase small-size paintings depicting urban sights as a remembrance of Italy, were especially popular.

In the painting by Anselmo Gianfanti (1857-1903) “In the Church of Santa Maria della Pace”, the painter showed a part of interior of the church built by Pietro da Cortona with magnificent chapel decorated with famous reliefs.

Views of Venetian lagoon, sketches of urban and rural life scenes brought fame to Mose di Giosue Bianchi (1840-1904). “A Woman with a Jug” painting, filled with air and light, is one of the best works of a kind by the master.

A totally special role of Italy in the history of art was reflected in the enormous influence that Italian masters exerted on painting of practically all European countries as well as in the existence of Italian colonies of painters in the 17th century - Dutch and German in Rome, English in Venice, French and Flemish in Genoa. Desire for learning the basis of painting or its improvement was always overwhelmingly attracting Europeans to Italy.

This exposition if rounded out by photographs with vies of Italian cities, made by Enrique Scalfi and presented by the president of the Il Cigno Galileo Galilei publishing house, Lorenzo Dsicini.

The exhibition is accompanied by scientific wonderfully illustrated catalogue (Slavia Publishing House, St Petersburg, 2011). The authors of the articles are S.O. Androsov, the Head of the Department of Western European Art, Ph. D. in art history, and N.B. Petrusevich, senior research assistant of the Drawings Sector of the Department of Western European Art.

The curator of the exhibit is Lubov Stanislasovna Gerasimova, junior research assistant of the Department of Western European Art.

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Opening ceremony. S.A. Kondratjeva, Minister of Culture of the Kaliningrad Oblast, G.V. Zabolotskaya, Director of the Art Gallery, V.Yu. Matveev, Deputy Director of the State Hermitage Museum

At the press conference dedicated to the opening of the exhibit

Canvases by Italian painters from the Hermitage Collection in Kaliningrad

At the exhibition

Catalogue of the Exhibit