A lost masterpiece by Domenico Ghirlandaio’s son Ridolfo was found in a dusty warehouse and restored to its pristine beauty by a team of skilled restoration experts guided by Sabrina Cassi and Gianmaria Scenini. This “new work” depicting the Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist has just been sent to Scandicci where a major exhibition dedicated to the art and talent of Domenico Ghirlandaio is taking place. Annamaria Bernacchioni curator of the exhibition told reporters that this masterpiece by Ridolfo, continuator of his father‘s Florentine school, epitomises the artistic taste of Florence between 1520 and 1540 and therefore it will get all the attention it deserves at the show!

Ghirlandaio - Castello dell’Acciaiolo (Scandicci - Firenze)

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Throughout the centuries, art historians have speculated over Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Mona Lisa; the famous portrait with its rather enigmatic smile and mysterious landscape behind the sitter has always triggered the strangest conjectures; conjectures, mind you, without any firm evidence or proof. So after having read in the newspapers that Leonardo probably hid in the painting two numbers (7 and 2) indicating the date of the appalling flood which destroyed the bridge of Bobbio in Emilia (art historian Carla Glori believes that the Italian master depicted that very bridge in the background), we now have to consider a new and even more exciting conjecture; in fact according to Ross Kilpatrick, professor emeritus of Classics at Queen’s University in Canada, Leonardo painted not a real landscape but one inspired by two great poets of the past: Horace and Petrarch; apparently their poems - Horace’s Ode 1. 22 and some of Petrarch’s sonnets - hold the key to this age-old secret.

Orazio e Petrarca, nuove rivelazioni sulla Gioconda di Leonardo

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2010 is the year of Caravaggio in Italy, as the 400th anniversary of the famous Italian painter’s death is celebrated. The Caravaggio exhibition in Rome was a huge success and this time the Caravaggio fever is moving to Milan, virtually speaking.

Until February 13th 2011 it will be possible to visit a virtual exhibition in Milan of Caravaggio’s work at the Palazzo della Ragione. 65 works are on display and via an interactive show, it’s possible to see them despite pieces of Caravaggio’s art scattered around the world in 25 different cities.

Obviously it’s not the same as seeing the “real thing” but in a year when Caravaggio’s work is being celebrated not only for the annivesary, but also its relevance to an Italy struggling through a shadowy modern era, it’s still a good way of enjoying the experience.

The Palazzo della Ragione is in Piazza Mercanti 1, and the exhibition is open from 2:30 to 7:30 pm Mondays, 9:30am to 7:30pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Thursday and Saturday is late opening hours from 9:30 in the morning to 10:30 in the evening. Tickets cost nine euros.

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Amedeo Modigliani’s La Belle Romaine has been sold at Sotheby’s for 50 million euro; the famous work which is part of a series of nudes the Italian artist painted around 1917 drew five telephone bidders into a heated competition.

The good news is that part of the money will be donated to NFAA, an association which helps young artists.

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A new Caravaggio painting may have been found; according to art historian Silvia Danesi Squarzina, Caravaggio painted a portrait of Saint Augustine which ended up in a private collection abroad. While delving into the Giustiniani archives - she told reporters - she came across a document which bore the title of this forgotten masterpiece painted in 1600; with this important document in her hands, the art historian succeeded in tracking down the lost Caravaggio! It goes without saying that further analyses are required before it can be attributed for certain to the Italian master!

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In order to entice young people into visiting its rooms, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan has organised a series of cocktail parties during which young visitors will have the pleasure to stroll down its galleries with an aperitif in their hands and have a leisurely look at the amazing works on display ( the museum is home to Pollaiolo’s masterpiece Portrait of a Girl). So if you are interested in this rather interesting initiative, remember to visit the place on 21 and 28 April; for just 8 euros you will have the opportunity to drink free cocktails and enjoy very good art. Young visitors will also get free access to the exhibition Ospiti inaspettati. Casi di ieri. Design di oggi or ” Unespected guests. Yesterday’s homes, today’s design.”

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From 21 May to 31 October the city of Udine will host a major exhibition dedicated to Giambattista Tiepolo ‘s graphic work. The exhibition Giambattista Tiepolo tra scherzo e capriccio aims to shed a new and stronger light on one of Tiepolo’ s less well known aspects. According to art critics, these 35 works which the artist created around 1750 are full of strange, mysterious symbols which until now no one has been able to decipher. Apparently they are just like a secret code that only few adepts could read and understand.

A Udine, il Tiepolo mai visto

Continue reading: Udine to host major exhibition on Giambattista Tiepolo

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From 27 December, visitors will have the unique opportunity to see one of Leonardo ‘s most famous works: San Giovanni Battista; the painting on loan from the Louvre will be on display in the Alessi Chamber in Piazza Marino, Milan, for a whole month. The San Giovanni Battista was one of Leonardo’s favourites , so much so that the artist couldn’t bear being separated from it and carried it with him wherever he went. Be prepared to queue!

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The town of Amalfi is hosting until 22 November an art exhibition devoted to Michelangelo, one of the greatest geniuses of the Renaissance period. At the Antichi Arsenali della Repubblica, visitors will have the unique opportunity to see six drawings which undoubtedly represent a pivotal moment in Michelangelo’s early years and which no one should underestimate. Two of these drawings are architectural projects (the façade for the church of San Lorenzo and a military fortification), while the third is the famous portrait of Queen Cleopatra which, after a careful restoration in 1988, has revealed unexpected truths about the Egyptian Queen (Cleopatra now looks far more distraught than she used to do). The two last drawings however, show a group of young men in movement ( i.e. a study meant for other artists an aspect of Michelangelo‘s career which is not well known by the public and deserves more attention) and an antique Venus which once again reveals Michelangelo’s talent for classical art. This art exhibition is perfect for those of you who want to understand the finer points of the genius that is Michelangelo.

Michelangelo’s drawings on display at Amalfi

Continue reading: Michelangelo's drawings on display in Amalfi

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From 6 September to 8 December, the city of Parma will become the capital of the Futurist art and this is thanks to an art exhibition called Futurismo! Da Boccioni all’Aeropittura or Futurism: from Boccioni to Aerial Painting and which will take place at the famous Fondazione Magnani Rocca. Masterpieces by such eminent artists as Boccioni, Balla, Severini, Sironi, Soffici, Russolo, Depero and Prampolini will be on display; works belonging to the first and second period of Futurism and which will shed a stronger light upon the contradictions and the beauty of this extraordinary Italian art movement. In order to celebrate the first flight in Italy, curators of the art exhibition have also given close attention to aerial landscape art which depicts or evokes the appearance of a landscape from a perspective above it.

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The Art world is agog with excitement over Ritratto di Flora , a portrait painted in the 18th century by Gimbattista Tiepolo and now rediscovered by Christie‘s. This famous painting commissioned by Empress Elizabeth of Russia has lain untouched in the same private collection for over 200 years.

Since the portrait was deemed too risqué to be hung in the grand salons (the painting shows a half-naked woman adorned with flowers and a single pearl), the French owners hid it in the attic of their castle for two centuries. The identity of the girl who posed for Giambattista Tiepolo is still unknown, though a few critics have suggested the name of Christina, the daughter of a famous gondolier.

Christie’s will put the painting on the block on 2nd December. Estimate: £700,000 - £900,000

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Our colleagues over at 02 blog told us about this amazing exhibition called Caravaggio a Milano or Caravaggio in Milan on display at Palazzo Marino in Milan until 14th December. Actually this exhibition consists of only one painting, The Conversion of Saint Paul, which belongs to the noble Odelscalchi family and therefore less well known than other works by the same painter. The Conversion of Saint Paul was painted on cypress wood in 1601 and according to many critics the work was crucial to Caravaggio’s artistic growth. The Conversation was commissioned by the powerful Cardinal Tiberio Cerasi for Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, but after the cardinal’s death the painting rather mysteriously ended up in Spain and only a century later the work was bought by the Balbi Family from Genoa who years later bequeathed it to a member of the noble and rich Odescalchi family.

Caravaggio in Milan - Palazzo Marino - Milan

Continue reading: Caravaggio's Conversion of Paul (or Saul) on display in Milan

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