Viaggio in Italia

Like a journey, the exhibition takes visitors to iconic cities and regions of Italy. Spanning three centuries, it presents idealised ancient landscapes, numerous views of cities and squares, and scenes of everyday life in urban settings. All the works come from the collections of the Gallerie d’Italia, the museums of the Intesa Sanpaolo bank. The paintings have in common the southern light, the elegance of the architecture, the charm of the landscapes and the omnipresence of antiquity, the latter being further enhanced by Roman-inspired sculptures and authentic Greek vases from Puglia.

The tour of Italy in pictures begins in Naples: paintings and watercolours from the 18th and 19th centuries show the famous bay of the Golfo di Napoli, the picturesque old town, the Roman houses of Pompeii, but also surprising details such as one of the many caves under the city. As an interlude, the exhibition then focuses on the genre of capricci – imaginative compositions of ancient ruins or bucolic landscapes, here from the 17th and 18th centuries and by Italian, Dutch and French painters. Magnificent large-format views of Roman squares then take us to the capital and ‘eternal city’, painted by Gaspar van Wittel (1652-1736), a Dutch pioneer of the veduta (cityscape) genre. Next come views of the city of Florence, nestled in the characteristic landscape of Tuscany. Here again we encounter a foreign artist, the British painter Thomas Patch (1725-1789), who worked in Italy for a long time. The journey continues to the lagoon city of Venice, which has been depicted in numerous views since the 18th century, highly prized by tourists and collectors alike. The most famous vedute painter, Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto (1697-1768), is represented by a work of the early period. A short detour allows visitors to take a look at Udine and Verona, cities neighbouring Venice. They then discover Milan, a city marked by the contrast between its historic centre of power and its 19th/20th-century industrial metropolis, with, among other things, a painting by the famous futurist Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916).

The cities featured were partly chosen based on the locations of the four museums that make up the Gallerie d’Italia: Milan, Naples, Turin and Vicenza. At the end of the exhibition, visitors of all ages can create their own capriccio in an interactive space, in the form of a digital collage. A painting corner and a quiz complete the offering for families with children.
A catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

Gaspar Adriaensz van Wittel (Gaspare Vanvitelli, o Gaspare degli Occhiali), (Amersfoort, Netherlands 1652 - Rome 1736)
View of Piazza del Popolo in Rome, 1718
Oil on canvas
Intesa Sanpaolo Collection
Gallerie d'Italia – Naples

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