JULIUS II, RAFFAELLO AND THE BOLOGNESE RENAISSANCE ON SHOW IN BOLOGNA
Bologna discovers its importance in the 15th and 16th centuries thanks to an exhibition focusing on Pope Julius II, Raphael and the Bolognese Renaissance.
Thanks to an exceptional loan, a masterpiece of art history arrives in the city, creating an opportunity to reconsider Bologna as a not secondary protagonist of the Renaissance.
Mazzola Francesco, detto Il Parmigianino, Madonna col Bambino e i Santi Margherita, Girolamo e Petronio, panello, Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale, c. 1529
The exceptional arrival in Bologna of Raphael’s Portrait of Julius II, preserved at the National Gallery in London, allows us to understand a very important historical phase for the city of Bologna and to embark on a fascinating journey to discover little-known aspects.
It was Pope Julius II, in fact, who in 1506 removed Bologna from the Bentivoglio seigniory and brought the city within the dominion of the Papal States.
This event had implications for every aspect of city life, including art.
Bologna, along with neighbouring Ferrara, counted at the time on artists of great value such as Francesco del Cossa, Ercole dè Roberti, Lorenzo Costa, Francesco Francia and Amico Aspertini.
When Bologna became part of the Papal States, these artists had to compete with the artists of the papal court such as Michelangelo, Raphael and Bramante, who were already considered the greatest artists of the time.
The exhibition focuses on Raphael’s portrait because it is the first in a controversial series of copies and remakes. It is a masterpiece that depicts the pope, disrupting every iconographic tradition, depicting a real man on canvas, almost weighed down by the weight of his office. A painting with which the Bolognese artists had to measure themselves.
The exhibition intends to analyse an important historical period for the city of Bologna, emphasising the fact that while Raphaelism conquered most artists, this was not the case for Amico Aspertini, a painter faithful to his own absolutely personal and anti-classical language, as can be seen in his Cristo benedicente tra la Madonna e San Giuseppe, which for this exhibition comes on loan from the Fondazione Longhi in Florence.
The exhibition also does not forget to describe the troubled years leading up to the Sack of Rome in 1527 and which brought another outstanding personality to Bologna: Parmigianino, who was in the city between 1527 and 1530.
His refined and restless art is documented in the exhibition by the comparison between Santa Margherita from the Pinacoteca and the Madonna di San Zaccaria from the Uffizi.
Finally, we come to the beginning of a new central moment for Bologna, that of the coronation of Charles V by Clement VIII, to which the conclusion of the exhibition is reserved.
Pietro Vannucci, detto il Perugino, Madonna col Bambino in gloria e i Santi Giovanni Evangelista, Apollonia, Caterina d’Alessandria e Michele Arcangelo, panello, Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale, c. 1500
INFORMATION ON THE EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO JULIUS II, RAFFAELLO AND THE BOLOGNESE RENAISSANCE
JULIUS II AND RAFFAELLO.
A new season of the Renaissance in Bologna
Exhibition curated by Daniele Benati, Maria Luisa Pacelli and Elena Rossoni.
Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale
Via delle Belle Arti, 56
8 October 2022 – 5 February 2023
The project is realised in cooperation with the University of Bologna and the Academy of Fine Arts and also involves other city collections and monumental sites where the emphasis will be placed on the artistic evidence of this phase of Bologna’s history.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Silvana Editoriale.
Timetable
Tuesday and Wednesday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Thursday to Sunday and public holidays 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Closed Mondays
Ticket prices
Euro 8,00 full ticket
Euro 5,00 reduced ticket (Card Cultura and Bologna Welcome Card holders)
Euro 2,00 reduced ticket (18-25 years old)
Free of charge by law (list on the Ministry of Culture website www.beniculturali.it) and for members of the Società di Santa Cecilia. Friends of the Pinacoteca di Bologna