2015-10-21

2167 - 20160117 - U.S.A. - WILLIAMSBURG - VIRGINIA - Twilight of a Golden Age: Florentine Painting After the Renaissance - 25.04.2015-17.01.2016

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The exhibition features more than twenty important paintings and sculptures of the 17th & 18th centuries

"The opportunity to exhibit these extraordinary works allows us to continue the story of our groundbreaking Renaissance shows," said Aaron De Groft, Director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art. "Most of the artists active in Florence after Michelangelo’s death in 1564 are little known outside of Italy," De Groft continued. "The Haukohl Family has the most important collection of Florentine Baroque paintings and objects in the United States."

More than 35 years in the making, the Haukohl collection has lent generously to important museums and exhibitions both in America and abroad. The core of this magnificent collection is its unique holdings of paintings by three generations of the Dandini family, beginning with Cesare Dandini (1596-1657), a leading master of the early 17th Century. Dandini founded a dynasty of painters of classical themes personified by female figures, whose beauty was calculated to appeal to private collectors. Dandini’s younger brother, Vincenzo (1609-1675), is represented in the exhibition by impressive representations of St. Mark and the goddess Juno. The leader of the younger generations of the dynasty, which extended into the 18th century, was Pietro Dandini (1646-1712) whose large canvas, Esther Fainting Before King Ahasuerus, is a splendidly colorful presence in the show. After collaboration with his father Pietro, Ottaviano Dandini (1681-1740), enhanced the clarity of his style which is demonstrated wonderfully in Saint Phillip Neri and the Miracle on the Voyage to Naples.

A special section of the exhibition, "Artists, Writers, and Academies," is dedicated to the lively culture of Florence under the rule of the Medici grand dukes, when more than ten artistic, literary, and scientific societies were founded. This gallery will be dominated by four
painted stucco over-life-size portraits by Antonio Montauti (1683-1746), representing Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and Marsilio Ficino. The centerpiece will be a treasure of Florentine 18th century painting, a harlequin jester scene by Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (1692-1768), the most gifted Florentine artist of his century. This charming scene from the comic theater of that time is presented in an antique period frame decorated with figures of cupids holding symbols of music, the theater and other arts.

Under the many years curatorship of Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl, the Haukohl family has the largest private collection of Florentine Baroque art in the United States. Resident in Houston, Texas, Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl was born into a family of art collectors, who have always been patrons of the arts. All the paintings and sculptures in Twilight of a Golden Age: Florentine Painting





Muscarelle Museum of Art - Twilight of a Golden Age: Florentine Painting After the Renaissance - 25.04.2015-17.01.2016