Barocci exhibition, London
An important exhibition of the Renaissance painter
Federico Barocci (about 1533–1612) at the National Gallery in London has just ended. According to the
National Gallery website, Barocci is:
“…celebrated as one of the
most talented artists of late 16th century Italy. Fascinated by the
human form, he fused charm and compositional harmony with an
unparalleled sensitivity to colour.
The exhibition will showcase Federico Barocci’s most
spectacular altarpieces, including his famous ‘Entombment’ from
Senigallia and ‘Last Supper’ from Urbino Cathedral, thanks to the
cooperation of the Soprintendenze delle Marche.
The display assembles the majority of Barocci’s greatest
altarpieces and paintings, together with sequences of dazzling
preparatory drawings, allowing visitors to understand how each picture
evolved and revealing the fertility of Barocci’s imagination, the
diversity of his working methods and the sheer beauty and grace of his
art.“
The exhibition comprised religious paintings, altarpieces and
portraits – paintings as well as preparatory sketches. Since the works
on display have never before seen outside Italy, I felt it was a
privilege to visit the exhibition at the National Gallery, which is just
a 30-minute metro ride away from my house. The Barocci exhibition was,
as is done for larger scale exhibitions, set up in the Sainsbury Wing of
the National Gallery. As expected, the works were beautifully arranged.
Drawings
Whilst in the media most of the attention had been drawn to the
religious paintings, I found that the drawings, of which Barocci
produced many, were much more interesting and beautiful than the
finished works. Apparently he spent a lot of time sketching and making
other preparations (he was seen around town a lot, clutching his sketch
book) before moving on to painting. He actually painted his paintings
relatively quickly – I guess this might have been because, whilst
sketching, he had come to know his subject matter really well so could
put everything on canvas quickly. Looking at the paintings, I felt that
it was almost as if he wasn’t interested in producing the end product,
but instead loved to sketch and experiment with the world around him. To
me it was quite clear that his true passion was drawing.
Subject matter was mostly anatomical and life drawings, studies of
drapery etc. I found the intimate portraits of women and children in
particular very beautiful. There is an intens energy radiating from the
carefully and lovingly rendered lines.
Blue faded paper
Interestingly, he had a certain formula which he followed for the
majority of his sketches: most works in this Barocci exhibition were on
blue (faded) paper, using red, black and white chalk. Other sketches
were done in pen and brown ink or red and black chalk on white paper.
The blue paper in particular produced a magnificent effect – people
seemed to come alive due to the illusion of cool shadows on skin and
bodies provided by the paper.
Chiaroscuro
As I’m personally interested in
chiaroscuro
(the use of strong contrasts between light and dark) I spent a lot of
time in front of Barocci’s chiaroscuro studies of the “Madonna of the
holy girdle” and the “Madonna of the rosary”. These preparatory works
were done using:
Chiaroscuro pigments:
“black chalk and pen, brown ink and brown wash heightened with white”
“black chalk and pen, brown ink, dark brown wash, ochre and white oil”
Use of colour
The finished paintings all used bright
colour. According to the video played in the room adjacent to the
exhibition, Barocci is one of the strongest colourists to have ever
lived. Drapery was certainly very bright; brightly coloured drapery was
used to enhance elegance and introduce drama, while Barocci also made
sure that he stayed true to human anatomy. Apparently the use of
chiaroscuro in his work is a late development; Barocci’s paintings were
foremost about bold colour.
Conclusion
I truly enjoyed the Barocci exhibition at
the National Gallery. As always the exhibition was presented
beautifully. While I expected to walk into rooms full of religious
paintings, I was amazed and delighted to find intimate portraits,
touching drawings and beautiful draughtsmanship. Very inspiring!
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