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Mantegna and the Arts in Verona 1450-1500

In Verona the nucleus of the exhibition will revolve around the two most important painting contracts carried out by Andrea Mantegna for the city: the Triptych of San Zeno in 1456-1459, for the abbey of Venetian origin, Gregorio Correr, and the Madonna in glory with saints and angels, known as the Pala Trivulzio, painted for the Olivetan congregation of Santa Maria in Organo, in 1497, now at the Sforza Castle in Milan, and the influence that these works had in launching one of the highest periods in the artistic history of Verona, as was first pointed out, as long ago as the mid-16th century, by Giorgio Vasari and later by many of the greatest scholars of modern times like Bernard Berenson and Rudolph Wittkower.

These two exceptional works provided the foundation for all the artists of Verona in the period and, both ideally and practically, mark the beginning and the end of the period in which early Renaissance art developed in the city.
From these basic works, with their preparatory drawings, and flanked by other works and engravings by Andrea, the exhibition presents the grand mosaic of Verona's culture, featuring characters of great interest: Francesco Benaglio (about 1432-1492), Francesco Bonsignori (about 1460-1519), Liberale da Verona (1445- 1526/29), Francesco Dai Libri (about 1474 – 1555), Girolamo Dai Libri (about 1452 – before 1514), Domenico Morone (about 1442 - after 1518) and his other disciples, who became the protagonists of a period in which Verona paid homage to Mantegna but looked with equal interest to other artistic centers in order to find its own intense, fascinating identity.

While the influence of Andrea Mantegna is undeniable, there are also clear links between Verona's artists and painters in the sphere of Squarcioni and Donatello, as well as openings towards Venice at the time when Giovanni Bellini and Antonello da Messina were the key figures and the narrative painting of Carpaccio was gaining ground, and links with Mantova and the Lombard artists were being forged and continued even after Mantegna's death.
The exhibition is an excellent reconstruction of the artistic and cultural context of a fifty year period, with paintings, a large section devoted to drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, architecture, medallions and publications including codices and incunabula the production of which was one of the most fascinating adventures of the time. It will also highlight the fundamental relationships between painting and illuminated manuscripts, with Liberale da Verona and Francesco and Girolamo dai Libri, between painting and sculpture, with Fra Giovanni and Giovanni Zebellana, between painting on canvas and frescoes, with Domenico and Francesco Morone. Critics have always stressed the excellent drawing skill of a number of Verona's masters, particularly Francesco Bonsignori, which can be analyzed here in close comparison with the entire graphic production of Mantegna, that will be presented in this exhibition.

A large section will be devoted to the antiquarian and architectural production of Verona, under the influence of the great works produced in Padua and the imposing legacy of classic architecture. Significant architectural elements will be presented, adjacent to important archeological findings from Renaissance buildings, and wooden models built for this exhibition (like the celebrated Loggia del Consiglio traditionally attributed to Fra Giocondo, the impressive fulcrum of the section) and, with these, a selection of medals coined by artists from Verona, from the prototypes by Pisanello to examples by Matteo de’ Pasti, Pomedello and Giovan Francesco Caroto.

No less important, among the many facets of local art production inspired by antiques, are painted chests and the art of wooden inlays, fields of application in which Verona is traditionally recognized as one of the capitals of the time, presented in this exhibition with a number of important pieces. The exhibition will present about 220 works from over 100 of the world's most prestigious cultural institutions, with loans from Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Krakow, London, New York, Paris, Vienna, Washington, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome.

After the exhibition on Pisanello in 1996, that focused the attention of the public and many scholars on the artistic context of the city, the exhibition devoted to “Mantegna and the Arts in Verona 1450-1500” is the logical continuation of a critical study already under way, and the discovery of an exhibition theme that offers many opportunities for other cultural events.