The exhibition of treasures from Italian museums will run in Villa Aura in Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples to November.
Many works come from museum deposits
Curated by the Museum Project Consortium and promoted by the Region of Sicily in collaboration with the Italian General Museums of the Mic, it brings together 22 paintings by known and less well known artists, and spans six centuries of history, beauty and art. The selection of paintings from all 20 Italian regions narrate the history and cultural identity of the works, dating from the 15th to the 20th century. They are all from national museums in various Italian cities, as well as from museum deposits, and they symbolize the inexhaustible rediscovery of collections in Italy’s museums.
Paintings from down the centuries
Starting with 15th-century paintings by the master of Castel Sardo and Antonello da Messina to the heights of the 16th century with giants such as Perugino, Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Pordenone and Andrea Previtali, the exhibition continues with the 17th century and the powerful paintings of Tanzio da Varallo, Sassoferrato and Ludovico Carracci, and then explores the greatness of Baroque painting through the works of Giovanni Baglione, Luca Giordano, Francesco Fracanzano, Mattia Preti and Valerio Castello. Eighteenth-century delicacy and grace take shape in the paintings of Pompeo Batoni, Nicola Maria Rossi and Paul Troger, while 19th-century realism is represented by the works of Filippo Palizzi. Finally, the 20th-century restlessness of Carlo Levi closes this unprecedented mosaic of personalities, offering a comprehensive look at the country's artistic and cultural evolution.
This exhibition is the last of three on Italy’s treasures
The exhibition is also the last of the three sessions of the larger project I Tesori d'Italia (Treasures of Italy), which has already seen two previous sessions in Villa Aurea , with other works of Italian art, and is named after the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Regional Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity and the General Directorate for Museums of the Ministry of Culture.
