If
you will be in London
between February 27 and May 19, 2013, you might want
to check out the special exhibit, Barocci: Brilliance and Grace at the
National Gallery. Dedicated to the art of Federico Barocci (1535-1612), the show will assemble some of his greatest altarpieces and paintings, including his famous Entombment from the seaside town of Senigallia, and Last Supper from Urbino Cathedral, neither of which has ever left Italy before. And from Rome, The Visitation from the Chiesa Nuova and the Institution of the Eucharist from Santa Maria Sopra Minerva will also be displayed.
In total 14 of his most important altarpieces and devotional paintings, four of his finest portraits, and his only secular narrative (Aeneas' Flight from Troy' will be on display. Alongside these, more than 65 preparatory drawings, pastel studies and oil sketches will be on view. His exceptional preparatory drawings will demonstrate how Barocci’s pictures evolved, showcasing the fertility of his imagination and the diversity of his working methods. He was an accomplished and prolific draughtsman, planning every composition with studies in various different media, pioneering numerous techniques long before they became standard artistic practice.
Barocci was highly esteemed during his lifetime. His work combined the beauty of
the High Renaissance with the dynamism of what was to become known as the
Baroque. From his earliest work, in the 1550s, he began to challenge convention by positioning his
figures in dynamic spatial arrangements, anticipating by almost half a century
the innovations of Baroque art. Fascinated by human and
animal forms, he fused compositional harmony with a superb sensitivity
to color. The National Gallery tells us that “Barocci was predominantly a painter of religious subjects, his approach epitomizing the clarity and accessibility required by a Catholic church, then in crisis. Barocci’s unique warmth and humanity transformed familiar gospel stories and more unusual visions into transcendent archetypes with universal appeal.”
Federico Barocci was one of the most talented and innovative artists
of late 16th-century Italy.
He was born in Urbino, a town that had become one of the great cultural centers
of the Renaissance, and was the birthplace of his famous predecessor Raphael,
by whom he was much influenced.
According to
Art News, “He emerged as a promising young painter and,
in the 1550s, moved to Rome
for further study. During a second trip to Rome
in the 1560s, Barocci lived and worked with a number of Rome’s leading painters. After participating
in a fresco project for Pope Pius IV in the Vatican, he was allegedly poisoned
by jealous rivals during a picnic. Suffering severely and in need of
recuperation, Barocci returned to Urbino in 1563, where he remained for the
rest of his career.
"When he died in 1612, he was not only among the highest paid painters in Italy, but also one of the most influential. Many of Barocci’s most accomplished works remain in his home region of the Marches, Italy, on the altars for which they were made. Consequently, his name has not acquired the broad recognition of distinguished predecessors such as Raphael and Michelangelo, or successors such as Rubens, who, with other Baroque artists, drew inspiration from his sumptuous color palette, expressive compositions and innovative techniques.”
