Some of the most important works by Sandro Botticelli are now on show in a major exhibition, Zhang Kun reports.
Visitors enjoy Botticelli and the Renaissance in Shanghai. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Botticelli and the Renaissance, an exhibition at the Bund One Art Museum in Shanghai, is the largest showcase of works by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) ever held in China.
On exhibition are 10 original paintings by the artist and 38 by his contemporaries from the Uffizi Galleries in Italy.
Most of the works are on showcase for the first time in China.
The exhibition, which started on April 28 and will run until Aug 27, is the second show created under the agreement signed in 2021 between Tix-Media and the Uffizi Galleries, which is home to one of the world's most significant collections of Renaissance paintings.
According to the agreement, the two parties will host 10 exhibitions at the Bund One Art Museum over five years.
Originating from a new vision of the world that placed human beings, rather than God, at its center, the Renaissance period gave birth to the study of nature and science, saw a flowering of the arts, and the advancement of civic life, says Daniela Parenti, curator of the exhibition from the Uffizi Galleries.
Madonna and Child and the Young St. John the Baptist by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
She adds that the 48 portraits, religious works, history and mythological paintings on display provide an introduction to the art, political, religious and civic circles of Florence and Italy between the 15th and 16th centuries.
Parenti describes Botticelli as an extraordinary portraitist and painter who excelled in translating complex concepts and literary subjects into images, and expressed himself through a highly original, although not particularly naturalistic, style in which harmony and beauty prevailed.
Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Galleries, says the exhibition is centered on some of Botticelli's most iconic paintings, which not only showcase his masterful technique and composition, but also possess profound cultural and historical significance.
These works, Schmidt explains, offer a glimpse into the world of Renaissance Florence and highlight the vibrant intellectual and artistic scene within it, thus reminding viewers of the enduring legacy of this "golden age of human creativity".
The high-resolution copy of Botticelli's Primavera. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Apart from Botticelli's paintings, the exhibition also showcases masterpieces by his teacher, Filippo Lippi, his companions and his school. These works offer a deeper understanding of Botticelli's artistic development and reveal the diversity and richness of his oeuvre, says Schmidt. One of the most important pieces on show is Pallas and the Centaur, a mythological painting commissioned by the Medici family, which governed Florence and Tuscany for four centuries.
The painting shows Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, dragging a centaur by its hair. As the centaur is a mythical creature that is a combination of man and beast, this work is understood as an allegory to the victory of virtue against a wild and beast-like temperament.
Measuring 207 centimeters in height, this work is the largest Botticelli piece in the collection of the Uffizi Galleries that is allowed to tour internationally, according to Zheng Ciying, an official guide at the exhibition.
His Portrait of a Young Woman: Simonetta Vespucci. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Another important painting in the exhibition is Adoration of the Magi, which Botticelli created around 1475. The painting stands out among a series of works of the same subject not only because it established Botticelli's fame in Florence and marked a high point in his early artistic career, but also because Botticelli himself is featured in it — as a young man on the far right of the work, his back turned to the worshipping crowd.
For the exhibition, Tix-Media made high-resolution copies of Birth of Venus and Primavera, two of Botticelli's most celebrated creations, as the originals are not allowed to leave the borders of Italy. After receiving authorization from the Uffizi Galleries, artists appointed by the institution took thousands of photographs of the original paintings before making copies of the same size as the original.
They then added final touches to the copies to replicate the original strokes.
"This is the best way we can experience these beautiful paintings without flying to Florence," says Wang Wenhui, a visitor at the preview last week. "Because they are copies, we can stand close by and observe the details that are so vivid and so striking."
The team behind the exhibition. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Several high-profile art exhibitions are also being held in Shanghai. Among them are Painting the Essential: Surrealism and the East, at the West Bund Museum up to Sept 24 and 400 Years of Western Figure and Portrait Paintings, which runs through July 23 at the Powerlong Museum.
Modern Time: Masterpieces from the Collection of Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin at UCCA Edge in Shanghai will be on from June 22 to Oct 8.
Xie Dingwei, general manager of Tix-Media and executive director of the Bund One Art Museum, says the influx of top-notch art shows to Shanghai is good news for audiences. "Nurturing audiences is a long process, and we are finally seeing the fruits of our work in Shanghai," says Xie.
"Several art museums in Shanghai have built long-term partnerships with acclaimed foreign institutions. Besides our partnership with the Uffizi Galleries, the West Bund Museum is collaborating with the Centre Pompidou, and the Museum of Art Pudong is doing the same with the Tate (a family of four art galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall). These collaborations will help to bring more good art to Shanghai."
If you go
Botticelli and the Renaissance
April 28-Aug 27, 10 am-6 pm (last entry by 5:30 pm).
Bund One Art Museum, 3F, 1 Zhongshan No 1 Road East, Huangpu district, Shanghai.
Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn
