Herman Posthumus (c. 1512/13-before 1588), Landscape with Roman Ruins, 1536, Oil on canvas, Sammlungen des Fürsten von und zu Liechtenstein, Vaduz-Wien.

Paul Bril (c. 1553/54-1626), Fantastic Landscape, c. 1598, Oil on copper, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Alessandro Allori (1535-1607), Laocoon, c. late 1550s, Oil on panel, 73 x 57.2 cm, Private Collection, New York.

Carracci, The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (The Montalto Madonna), c. 1597-1598, Oil on copper, 35 × 27.5 cm. © The National Gallery, London.  Bought with funds from generous legacies and recent donations, 2004.

Francesco Salviati (1510-1563), Virgin and Child with an Angel, c. 1535-1539, Oil on panel, Purchased 2005 with the support of the Volunteer Circle of the National Gallery of Canada and the National Gallery of Canada Foundation Renaissance Ball Patrons, for the Gallery's 125th Anniversary.

National Gallery of Canada
380 Sussex Drive
613-990-1985
Ottawa
From Raphael to Carracci:
The Art of Papal Rome
May 29-September 7, 2009

The power, politics and drama that surrounded papal patronage in 16th-century Rome will be revealed in a magnificent new exhibition opening at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) on May 29. From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome represents an unprecedented survey of art in this period.

This large international loan exhibition brings together over 150 exceptional paintings and drawings for the first time by celebrated artists such as Michelangelo, Titian, El Greco, Vasari, Barocci and Annibale Carracci. In addition, pieces by lesser known, but nonetheless superb artists are also included. They too played a significant role in the evolution of Renaissance Rome but have only recently been acknowledged and appreciated for their skill and relevance to art history during this period. Together they illustrate how papal patronage, which was driven by unrivalled ambition and the need to propagate their own belief system, gave rise to one of the richest periods in art history and the lasting legacy of some of the greatest artists in the world.

“An exhibition of this exceptional nature could not have been realized without the generosity and vision of institutional and individual lenders,” said NGC Director, Marc Mayer. “The vast majority of these works have been generously loaned to us by prestigious arts institutions and individual collectors throughout Europe and North America. Given their rarity, the Gallery is privileged to be the sole venue for this exhibition.”

Organized chronologically pope by pope, the exhibition commences with Julius II in 1503 and concludes with Clement VIII in 1606. Through their enlightened patronage they transformed Rome from a banal backwater to the most important and influential centre of the Renaissance and the unrivalled cultural capital of the western world for over three centuries. By the same token, it shows Rome as an unpredictable European centre, deeply affected by the dramatically shifting tides of this patronage and the tensions created between the temporal and spiritual worlds.

“Even more than Michelangelo, Raphael exemplifies a new type of artist that developed Rome in this period,” said NGC Deputy Director and exhibition curator, David Franklin. “However, another purpose of this exhibition is to present Raphael’s ideal and elegant style as a source of inspiration to his many talented followers, as well as to portray him as a liberated master who gave birth to a seemingly endless variety of artistic forms. By concluding with the works of Annibale Carracci, we intend to examine more broadly the transitions of style known as High Renaissance, Mannerism and the Early Baroque, and indeed to question the relevance of these terminologies.”

From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome is also a testament to the increasing strength of the National Gallery’s own collection of European art as this exhibition will feature 25 of its own pieces. These include a number of recent acquisitions, such as the remarkable work by Francesco Salviati, Virgin and Child with Angel, a 2005 purchase through the support of the NGC Volunteers Circle and the patrons of the NGC Foundation. Also displayed will be an oil sketch by Cristoforo Roncalli for his Saint Peter’s altarpiece entitled Death of Sapphira — a subject famously treated by Raphael.

From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome is designed as a sequel to the NGC’s exhibition entitled Renaissance Florence shown in Ottawa in 2005. The organizing committee, led by David Franklin, also includes distinguished art historians, including Rhoda Eitel-Porter of the Morgan Library & Museum, Sebastian Schütze of Queen’s University and Louis A. Waldman from the University of Texas.

A fully-illustrated 480-page catalogue, produced by the National Gallery of Canada, accompanies this exhibition. Featuring 378 illustrations and published in English and French, it is co-authored by David Franklin, NGC Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Ingrid D. Rowland, author of The Culture of the High Renaissance (Cambridge), Sebastian Schütze, Professor of Art History and Bader Chair in Southern Baroque Art, Department of Art at Queen’s University, and Carlo Gasparri, Professor of Archeology at the University of Naples. Contributions have also been made by more than 40 international scholars. Appearing in hardcover only at a cost of $75 (CDN) it is on sale at the National Gallery of Canada Bookstore or online.

Raphael (1483-1520), Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, c. 1515, Oil on panel, 59.7 × 43.8 cm., Samuel H. Kress Collection. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Giulio Romano (1499-1546), Head of Pope Leo X, c. 1520, Black chalk, 33.7 × 26.8 cm., © Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel on the Sistine Ceiling (recto); Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso), c. 1510-1512, Red chalk and black chalk on laid paper (recto) red chalk heightened with white (verso), 34.3 × 24.3 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of Henry G. Dalton by his nephews George S. Kendrick and Harry D. Kendrick.

Raphael (1483-1520), Study for the Figure of Poetry, c. 1509-1510, Black chalk on laid paper, stylus under-drawing, squared in black chalk, 32.7 × 22.7 cm. Royal Collection © 2008 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.