Reconstructing a Renaissance Masterpiece
EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 10
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"Renaissance work reconstructed after
missing piece is discovered in Texas" The Independent
Read full article
"Fragments of 'butchered' Renaissance
masterpiece reunited for first time" The Telegraph
Read full article
"A unique chance to re-evaluate an
obscure masterpiece." The Financial Times Read full article
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An historic event is taking place with the
unveiling of the reconstructed Petrobelli
Altarpiece by Paolo Veronese. The four
known, surviving pieces have been brought together at
Dulwich Picture Gallery, reuniting them for the
first time since the 1780s.
Originally painted around 1565 for
Antonio & Girolamo
Petrobelli, it was one of the largest altarpieces ever
produced in Italy during the 16th century. It resided in
their family chapel; San Francesco at Lendinara, in the
north-east of Italy for around two hundred years until 1785
when the Order of the Franciscan Minor Conventual Friars
was suppressed and the church and convent were closed down and
destroyed.
The painting was cut up and sold in pieces, described as being
‘sold in quarters, as one does with butcher’s meat’. The reunion at
Dulwich will re-evaluate an important work that has been much
abused and forgotten.
One piece was snapped up by Noel Desenfans (a
Dulwich Picture Gallery founder) in London in February 1795 and the
other three known surviving fragments found homes in the
National Gallery of Scotland, the National Gallery of
Canada and the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin,
Texas.
The Dulwich and Edinburgh fragments have been previously
reunited at Dulwich in 1981, but the Ottawa painting has not been
seen in Europe alongside the other two pictures since the
18th century.
The reconstructed altarpiece provides the first opportunity in
modern times for direct visual comparison of the paintings and the
display will also be the first exhibition uniquely devoted to the
work of Veronese in the United Kingdom.
FIND OUT MORE
'Reconstructing a Renaissance
Masterpiece' article from The Friends of
Dulwich Picture Gallery In View magazine - PDF
Planning on visiting this exhibition? Send an invitation to a friend