In Rome the exhibition dedicated to Urban VIII and his pontificate
From 18 March to 30 July, the halls of Palazzo Barberini in Rome host the great exhibition dedicated to Pope Urban VIII, born Maffeo Barberini, and his cultural and political profile. More than eighty works on display.
On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the election of Matthew Barberini to the papal throne with the name of Urban VIIIwhich took place in August 1623, the National Galleries of Ancient Art Of Romeat the headquarters of Palazzo Barberini, dedicate an impressive exhibition to his twenty-one years of pontificate (1623-1644). The exhibition will therefore be staged from 18 March to 30 July 2023 The sovereign image. Urban VIII and the Barberinicurated by Maurizia Cicconi, Flaminia Gennari Santori and Sebastian Schütze.
Together with his nephews, Cardinals Francesco and Antonio and Prince Taddeo Barberini, Urban VIII tenaciously pursued an ambitious political-cultural project, which pervaded all the ambitions of popular knowledge and belief. The exhibition intends to celebrate the cultural and political profile of the pope who more than any other has an extraordinary and radical impact on philosophical thought, scientific knowledge and the arts of the seventeenth century, with the aim of illustrating the ways in which the pontiff privileged the instrument of cultural hegemony in function of government and political action.
Urban VIII gave an unmistakable stamp to his pontificate, promoting colossal enterprises, such as the canopy of St. Peter’s Of GianLorenzo Bernini oh mefresco by Pietro da Cortona in the great hall of Palazzo Barberini. A new style is imposed, the Baroque, which had immediate diffusion not only in Rome and Italy, but throughout the European scenario. Masterpieces of the Barberini collection, dismembered over the centuries and currently conserved in the main museums of the world, therefore return to their original location; it will be possible to admire works, among others, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Valentin de Boulogne, Nicolas Poussin, Andrea Sacchi, and some of the spectacular tapestries produced by the Barberini Arazzeria.
On display more than eighty works from the museum’s collection and from over 40 Italian and international museums and private collections; just to name a few: Uffizi Galleries; Brera ‘s picture gallery; Capodimonte Museum and Real Wood; Galleria Borghese, Vatican Museums, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, The British Museum, The National Gallery, Museo Nacional del Prado, Musée du Louvre; Albertina, and Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna; The J. Paul Getty Museum; Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art and: Saint Louis Art Museum.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by Officina Libraria. For all the information you can visit the site of the National Galleries of Ancient Art.
Image: detail of the bust of Urban VIII by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Information about the exhibition
| In Rome the exhibition dedicated to Urban VIII and his pontificate |
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