A tour of Milanese museums to discover the masterpieces that were recently restored to coincide with the exhibition “Beauty Regained. Caravaggio, Rubens, Perugino, Lotto, and 140 other restored masterpieces” at the Gallerie d’Italia – Piazza Scala, Intesa Sanpaolo’s museum and cultural hub in Milan. Milan receives back 10 recently restored drawings and paintings and invites the visitors to the city to discover their beauty. Every work of art will be visible until 17 July 2016, while after that date many works will still be visible anytime and others could be relocated.
1. Preparatory Work for the Fresco of the Master of Crucifixion of San Gottardo
The fresco featuring the Crucifixion, formerly mounted on the bell tower of San Gottardo after being transferred from the interior of the church, is a work by an anonymous though great master, serving as one of the most important testimonies to Giotto’s influence on Milanese art. The fresco’s large ‘Sinopia’, the preparatory drawing created using a dark, reddish-brown natural earth pigment also known as ‘terre de Sinope’ (measuring almost 3 metres and a half by 5 metres) had also remained intact. Preserved rolled up for a long time, it has now been transferred onto a support for public viewing.
You will find this preparatory work at the Castello Sforzesco
Piazza Castello, 1
M1 (red line) and M2 (green lines) Cadorna FN – M1 (red line) Cairoli – M2 (green line) Lanza
T:+39 02 88463700/703
www.milanocastello.it
2. The Sozzani Collection. Drawings by Various Artists
Carracci, Guercino, Bernini, Goya, and then Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Gauguin, Balthus… These are just some of the authors of the more than one hundred drawings, from the Renaissance to contemporary times, bequeathed to the Diocesano Museum in 2008 by banker Antonio Sozzani. Following in-depth restoration of the drawings and their frames, the collection was exhibited in its entirety in a special section of the museum housed in the cloister of Sant’Eustorgio.
The drawings are hosted at Museo Diocesano
Corso di Porta Ticinese, 95
M2 (green line) Porta Genova FS
T:+39 02 89420019
www.museodiocesano.it
3. Fausto Pirandello’s Still Life. Collage on Paper
The work, a collage made from different types of paper, showed defects and the detachment of some clippings. Additionally, the paper support of the perimeter appeared to be damaged. After removing and flattening the original paper support, a design depicting a male face, drawn by the artist (the son of the writer Luigi Pirandello and a protagonist of the Roman school) appeared on the back. Following completion of the work, a decision was made to mount the work so that it could be viewed from both sides.
The collage is hosted at Villa Necchi Campiglio
Via Mozart, 14
M1 (red line) Palestro
T: +39 02 76340121
www.casemuseomilano.it
www.fondoambiente.it
4. Giovanni Bellini’s Saint Justina Tempera on Wood
A masterpiece of luminous transparency, subtle melancholy and profound beauty, the painting has an unusual story. It was documented as part of the collection at Palazzo Borromeo in Milan in 1513, but all traces of it were lost until the end of the 19th century when the painting re-emerged in the collection of Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi. In 1913, famous art historian Bernard Berenson mentioned the name of Giovanni Bellini, focusing on the depth of feeling and human pathos found in works painted during the same period by the Venetian master (see the main picture).
The tempera of Saint Justina is hosted at Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
Via Gesù, 5
M1 (red line) San Babila – M3 (yellow line) Montenapoleone
T:+39 02 76006132
www.museobagattivalsecchi.org
www.casemuseomilano.it
Now that you know about some of the newly restored paintings and drawings, here are a few more.
>> Learn about the recently restored architecture and design masterpieces and sculptures, or view all the restored works on the official map
