
08.02.2012 / Arts & Culture
Verona in the 18th Century
Pietro Antonio Rotari and Giambettino Cignaroli: these are the names of the protagonists of 18th Century painting in Verona, a glorious and yet unexlplored period in the history of Italian art. With the aim of filling this gap, a major exhibition at Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona is currently exploring the time and the works of these and other artists that took part in the birth of an innovative and modern form of classicism.
The exhibition opens with a couple of amazing views of the city by Bernardo Bellotto, an Eighteenth Century landscapist native of Venice and next of kin of famous Canaletto.
Besides the religious and mythological subjects, intended for the churches and the elegant buildings of the city, one of the most interesting sections is the wall devoted to a collection of small fantasy portraits by Pietro Antonio Rotari, who worked at the court of Catherine II, Empress of Russia. 
These tiny works of art (which originally amounted to 368 pieces) were made for the decoration of the so-called “Cabinet of Fashion and Graces” at Peterhof Palace, near St. Petersburg
Another noteworthy highlight is the reconstruction of one of Giambattista Tiepolo‘s frescos for Palazzo Canossa, the residence of one of the city’s noblest families, damaged by the bombings during the Second World War. Through a much complicated digital reassemblig process, tha fresco has been partly recomposed in spite of the damages and of the lost fragments.
A great opportunity to discover an unexplored episode in the history of Italian art.
Picture: Head of a girl by Pietro Antonio Rotari
(Gloria Lucchese)
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