FLORENCE, ITALY – The exhibition Secret Renaissance running from April 13 to September 3, 2017 is dedicated to the century between the mid 1400s to the mid 1500s. Probably it represents one of the most innovative periods in artistic expression. these magical years.
Visitors can admire a total of 70 lesser artworks including paintings, sculptures and objects belonging to private collectors and banking foundations – many of which are on show for the first time – in three cities in the central Marches region: Urbino, Pesaro and Fano.
From Florence to Venice, Ferrara to Sicily, Sardinia to Lombardy, the artists of the Italian Renaissance followed on the heels of Piero della Francesca, who transformed painting into thought, well beyond devotional requirements, at the Duke of Urbino’s court. The exhibition Secret Renaissance is dedicated to these magical years.
The displays include works by local Marche masters Giacomo di Nicola da Recanati and Giovanni Antonio da Pesaro, Tuscan masters Piero del Pollaiolo, Benvenuto Cellini and Francesco di Giorgio Martini and artists from Veneto, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, as well as masterpieces from the school of Raphael and Perugino.
The exhibition itinerary begins in Urbino, with the magnificent palace designed by Francesco Laurana for Duke Federico III da Montefeltro and completed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini.
It continues in Pesaro, another important centre of Renaissance art as demonstrated by the altarpiece painted by Giovanni Bellini for the Church of S. Francesco (now in Palazzo Mosca), which arrived from Venice by sea in 1475.
Fano is the third leg of the tour and here the focus is largely on architecture as a result of the Malatesta lordship: the Malatesta castle, Casa degli Arnolfi, and Borgia Cybo arch.
The exhibition has been put together by art historian and critic Vittorio Sgarbi, who has attempted to create a dialogue between the chosen artworks and the Renaissance treasures already present in the local area.
The secret Renaissance (Rinascimento segreto)
Venues: Urbino, Palazzo Ducale, Sale del Castellare;
Fano, Museo Archeologico and Pinacoteca del Palazzo Malatestiano, Sala Morganti;
Pesaro, Palazzo Mosca, Musei Civici.
From April 13rd to September 3rd 2017.
Opening times: Urbino, from Tuesday to Sunday 10 am/6 pm, closed on Monday;
Pesaro e Fano, from Tuesday to Sunday 10 am/1 pm – 4 pm/7 pm, closed on Monday.
Full ticket for all the three venues: 10 euros.