2025
February 2025:
sculptures
Alessandro Algardi
&
Bonifacio Galluzzi
Museo Civico Medievale Bologna
Bologna, Italy
Museo Civico Medievale Bologna is a hidden gem in Bologna. It is one of the most interestinpg Medieval museums in Italy. It has amazing sculptures from the 14th & 15th centuries. There are some rare sculptures from Pietro Canonici, Jacopo della Quercia, Bonifacio Galluzzi , Pietro Cerniti, Bonandrea de Bonandrei, Giovanni de Andrea, Andrea da Fiesole and Giovanni da Legnano. And the senior (in age) staffs are unbelievably well informed and express their interesting and valid opinions like an art critic.
Unfortunately among all those magnificent sculptures, the visitors encountered with some “out of place” so called modern art on display; apparently it had been decided by a young curator as a way to increase the audience, but unaware that it also changing the spirit of a medieval museum.
Alessandro Algardi (1594-1654) was an Italian Baroque sculptor, born in Bologna and artistically active in Rome. His marble and bronze statues depict emotional expressions. His masterpiece is statue of Saint Michael ( San Michele) that is on display in Museo Civico Medievale Bologna. That is a rare beauty, one of the shining art pieces in the museum. Unfortunately the sword of Saint Michale is missing! According to the art historians, Guido Reni, the wonderful Italian painter, was inspired by Algardi’s art while he was painting San Michele.
Saint Michael by Alessandro Algardi
Bonifacio Galluzzi’s sculptures are alive; the hand gestures and facial expressions are brilliant; they clearly reveal the spirit of the 14th century Bologna. They talk to the viewers; they demonstrate the deep intelligence and understanding of the artist. By visiting Museo Civico Medievale Bologna, visitors have a chance to view and feel the scholarly spirit of the 14th century. (C)CTR Press
To those who appreciate art:
You can donate to the “Renaissance Art Project”; there is no minimum or maximum amount.
Click on the following link and scroll down the page and click on the painting to donate to the art project: https://ctrtranslation.com/
The donors will receive the full details of the art project.
February 2025:
Il Cinquecento A Ferrara
Dosso and Garofalo
Exhibition
Ferrara Palazzo dei Diamanti
Ferrara, Italy
Ferrara Palazzo dei Diamanti mostra is a must see exhibition. It is very well organized and marvelous paintings by Dosso Dossi and Garofalo on display has made it an exceptional exhibition for the culture enthusiasts. Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri known as Dosso Dossi (1489-1542) was an Italian Renaissance painter whose style was part of the School of Ferrara. His brother was trained in the Roman workshop of Raphael. He worked with Garofalo in polyptych. He followed Correggio’s style of paintings and added originality to it with his own ideas for creating the masterpieces of art.
One of Dosso’s masterpieces in the exhibition is Jupiter Painting Butterflies, Mercury and Virtue. It is so serene and beautiful that makes the viewer wondering if this is a creation of a human being! All the parts of the paintings are related in a heavenly manner; the composition of the colors are unbelievably realistic and beautiful; the body languages and facial expressions of the characters in the paintings are mysteriously sensational. This painting by Dosso has a unique charm that captivates the hearts and minds of the viewers, especially those who are not contaminated by the so called modern artificialities! Those who have the blessing of enjoying the real beauties can gain a lot from the viewing this unique masterpiece.
From 1520s, Dosso presented a very unique style distinguished from others. In his paintings, the elements of politics, mythology and literature are blended in a very strong manner and that’s what makes them unique.
Garofalo demonstrated more fascination with classical style. He had a specific elegant style in portraying his manneristic paintings. Garofalo (1481- 1559) was a Renaissance Mannerist Italian painter of the School of Ferrara. He painted both in oil and in fresco. The elegance is striking in his paintings. He portrayed various female characters, from Callisto to Syringa; from Pandora to Semele.
The exhibition curators and designers have done a fantastic job; they divided the exhibition into two different spaces and between them there was a very tranquil space that the visitors walked through a quiet outdoor space with some trees and birds: very refreshing indeed. Then when they walked indoor they could see the Crown Jewel of the exhibition: Dosso’s Jupiter Painting Butterflies, Mercury and Virtue. And definitely it was a Wow factor. (C)CTR Press
To those who appreciate art:
You can donate to the “Renaissance Art Project”; there is no minimum or maximum amount.
Click on the following link and scroll down the page and click on the painting to donate to the art project: https://ctrtranslation.com/
The donors will receive the full details of the art project.
February 2025:
The unique painter, Caravaggio
&
The marvelous poet, Giovan Battista Marino
&
The relationship between painting and literature
Galleria Borghese
Rome, Italy
Caravaggio as a highly talented painter and Marino as a highly skilled poet had faced the similar challenges and had been praised for their artistic and literary achievements. Caravaggio is cherished in the poem “Il tempio” and in “Adone”. And according to the curators at Galleria Borghese, Caravaggio created painting of Marino that had been lost and there is no trace of it. Apparently it is in the hands of the private collectors.
Caravaggio’s paintings have a unique quality of capturing the attention of the audience and captivating the viewers’ hearts and souls . There are many other painters such as Dosso, Garofalo, Raphael, Giotto, Reni and Botticelli whose paintings are extraordinarily beautiful and captivating, but Caravaggio transcends all. Galleria Borghese has many Caravaggio’s masterpieces on display. The main one is “Madonna dei Palafrenieri”. An amazing painting by Caravaggio that portraying Madonna and Child crushing the Serpent. It was painted in 1606. The striking composition of colors, the magnificent use of light and shade, the sharpness of the facial expressions and the smartness of the message of the painting make it a Caravaggio’s artwork.
Giovani Battista Marino was an Italian poet who was most famous for his epic poetry L’Adone. He was very famous and his style was widely imitated in Italy, France and Spain. His father was a highly cultured lawyer and both father and son were very much interested in the philosophical views of Giordano Bruno and Torquato Tasso. In Adone, Marino quotes passages from Dante’s Divine Comedy and Tasso. Also he wrote “La Strage degli Innocenti”, (The Massacre of the Innocents).
Both geniuses were highly admired and created the artistic and literary works that have been survived since 17th century and will continue to captivate the viewers and readers. Both were highly talented and honest people and both were highly admired beyond the Italian borders ; Both of them faced many difficulties with the authorities, both experienced several imprisonments, they had highly eventful and volatile lives and both faced premature death during the eventful years of the beginnings of 17th century during James I reign.
The exhibition in the Galleria Borghese focuses on the relationship between the art and literature in the early 17th century when the Baroque paintings and literature were born. In the “Galeria”, a collection of poetry where each poem corresponds to a real artwork was published in 1619. At first, Marino aimed in creating a drawing for each 624 poems. Marino was interested in Caravaggio’s paintings and relating them to the themes of his poems. One of them is “Susanna and the Elders” that has been painted by many painters and apparently the Caravaggio’s one isn’t traceable.
There are many fantastic paintings and artworks in Galleria Borghese. The atmosphere is amazing and there is interesting arrangements of the exhibition’s materials. The information about the artworks are educational and useful. It was obvious that people were captivated by the surrounding artworks.
(C)CTR Press
February 2025:
Castel Sant’Angelo
Three exhibitions:
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Forme Colori dall’ Italia preromana
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Papi E Santi Marchigiani
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Marcello Mastroianni
Castel Sant’Angelo
Rome, Italy
Three marvelous exhibitions in the magnificent Castle of Saint Michael in the eternal city of Rome attracting the culture enthusiasts to visit and enjoy the novelty and beauty of these exhibitions.
During 4th century B.C., some pottery painters from the Greek colony of Taranto moved to Canosa to creat multicolored pottery for decorations. They created the pottery with the original inspiration by the frescoes and paintings on the walls of buildings. They used rich and happy colors and an original technique: painting the images, firing the vases and then cooling them; all done using natural colors. They depicted women, holy images, and imaginary shapes to demonstrate the transitions to the Afterlife.
According to the archaeologists, these colorful vases were not intended for the daily use, but they were designed for the special occasions such as displaying during funeral ceremonies in the tombs next to the deceased. In the 4th century B.C. death was considered as a transition to the Afterlife. They used to cherish the period in the special ceremonies and they considered it as the final farewell ceremony. Women were powerful during those period and played very important roles throughout the ceremonies.
Vases in the shape of women’s heads is often present in the Canusian graves. Their heads were usually covered with the crowns and depicting a wide range of hairstyles and ornaments. Also there were the paintings of the winged women playing a variety of instruments. The artists used to portray each artifact with a specific facial expression to convey the feelings and emotions. At the end of funeral, the artifacts were left in the graves to safeguard the deceased throughout the journey and sometimes they were considered as means between the living and the dead. These artifacts demonstrate the gradual assimilation of funerary customs typical of the culture of Rome. The aristocracies of Canosa had formed alliances with this culture since 318 B.C.
Before its unification under the rule of Rome, numerous populations inhabited in the Italian territory. This exhibition shows the story of Dauni people through archaeological artifacts from Bari, Apulia and Taranto. Artifacts found in the temples, houses, tombs, baths and churches all preserved the memories from the prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Since the 19th century, the Roman national treasures and artifacts have been targeted by illegal international antiquities markets. The unique artifacts unearthed by illicit treasure hunters and sold in the marketplace such as London and finally becoming part of museums’ collections or ending up in the hands of private collectors. Some of the artifacts in the exhibition come from the operations carried out by the Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Carabinieri forces to counter illicit trade of the archaeological artifacts.
The exhibition Popes and Saints of the Marche at the Castel Sant’Angelo demonstrates a spectacular journey through art, history and spirituality in Rome and is a part of Jubilee 2025, largest event of faith and culture organized by the Catholic Church. It shows the spiritual roots of the Marche.
The exhibition of Marcello Mastroianni’s artistic life shows that his journey started from mid 1950s with playing in the theatre and then in cinema. His journey started from neorealism to the Italian comedy. Mastroianni played in 12 films with Sophia Loren. They had an extraordinary chemistry with each other. He worked with notable directors such as Mario Monicelli, Visconti and Fellini.
In part of the movie, “White Nights”, a free adoption of the novel by Dostoyevsky, directed by Visconti, Mastroianni plays a character overcome by the illusions of love. In the scene that he dances wildly and funnily demonstrates his unique talent in mastering the art of acting. Monicelli casted him to play in his comedy film: “Big Deal on Madonna Street”. In one of his interviews, Mastroianni touchingly says: “ Every time I won a prize, I thought of my mother.”
It was obvious that visitors were fascinated by their experience of visiting the Castel Sant’ Angelo and its new exhibitions. It was a unique cultural journey and an entertaining & fascinating experience not to be missed. A journey from the 4th century B.C. to the 17th and 18th century and finally to the twentieth century. (C)CTR Press
January 2025
Mary Cassatt Exhibition
SF Art Museum, Legion of Honor
San Francisco, California
Mary Cassatt paintings are full of character. Her beautiful works of art reflect the personality and depth of her own character. All are full of emotions, dignity and characters. It was quite obvious that viewers were fascinated and captivated by her paintings. They demonstrate her talent and her perception of reality. The composition of colors are serene. Cassatt’s paintings communicate directly to each viewer: stirring up their emotions first, then assisting them to reach the stage of delicious calmness and finally to deep understanding of the uniquely artistic messages of Mary Cassatt.
Mary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania, the US in 1844 and she lived most of her adult life in France. Her mother, Katherine Cassatt had an enormous influence on her, a very cultured lady, very well-read indeed. One of the close friends of the family, Havemeyer, once said : “Anyone who had the privilege of knowing Mary Cassatt’s mother would know at once that it was from her and her alone that (Mary) inherited her ability.” Mary was a close friend of Edgar Degas, the famous French painter. She was the most celebrated female artist of her time. Also Cassatt was a student of the master painter: Jean Léon Gérôme. Cassatt was one of the first female American painters to exhibit in Paris. Over the period of 50 years, she created over 380 pastels and 330 paintings.
In 1874, Cassatt opened an art studio in Paris. Mary Cassatt was a woman of integrity; she was very independent and outspoken. She criticized the politics of the Salon that some painters with connections could receive some favors from the jury. She criticized the connection-based criteria and she herself was after merit-based approaches. Her outspokenness costed her the refusal of her paintings for some exhibitions. She was at the low point of her career that Degas who was impressed by her character and her artistic talent, invited her to exhibit in the Impressionist Exhibition. They became close friends and had the similar tastes in the arts and literature and both were fiercely independent, also both were fascinated by the Italian paintings. After the impressionist exhibition, she was so happy and declared: “At last, I could work with absolute independence.”
Cassatt’s parents and her sister joined her in Paris and she made several fantastic portraits of them. Her intelligent mother who believed in the importance of the cultivating the intellectual abilities of women was painted while she was reading Le Figaro and some works of literature. Mary Cassatt’s paintings had been focused on the importance of deeper understanding of inner life. She portrayed the love and intensity of the mother and child relationships, although she never had a child, but she had the pure emotions, mind power and intellect to understand beautiful and meaningful relationships. So as the result her paintings were and still are very appealing to the viewers.
Cassatt’ paintings of mother & child were often reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance depictions of Madonna and Child. After 1900, she exclusively worked on the depictions of the mother & child imagery. In 1904, France awarded her the Legion of Honor for her contribution to the arts. She was one of the rare souls who had deep understanding of the human nature, exceptionally artistic talent and strong character and integrity. Her works of arts continues to captivate the hearts and minds of people.(C)CTR Press
