Visitors will be able to view more than two hundred works, not only graphics, but also drawings, paintings, and artistic crafts. The exhibition “From Michelangelo to Callot. The Graphic Art of Mannerism”, on which the NGP collaborated with the French Louvre Museum, will be open in the Valdštejnská jízdárna from May 17 to August 11, 2024.
It is a unique exhibition project, not only because some of the works have never been publicly exhibited before, but also due to the fact that works from all the major art centers of the time will be on display: Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic and France. “The Czech audience is quite familiar with the art at the court of Rudolph II, but an exhibition project focused on graphics in such a context has never been held anywhere else in Europe,” says Alena Volrábová, curator of the exhibition and director of the NGP Collection of Graphics and Drawings. A selection of more than two hundred excellent engravings and etchings, drawings, paintings, jewelry and other objects of art and craft are prepared for visitors, which map the transformations of the Mannerist style, its experiments and originality, but also its connection with other types of art. They also speak of his role in the artistic exchange between Italy and other European countries. “At that time, people were most often introduced to the key works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Giulio Romano or the beautiful decoration of the French royal castle in Fontainebleau through graphic sheets,” explains exhibition curator Blanka Kubíková.
Mannerism was born in Italy from the artistic language of the High Renaissance and soon became an international style. It is characterized by a refined elegance, a rich imagination and a fondness for symbols and hidden meanings. Graphics as a modern information medium played an extraordinary role in its rapid expansion.
The open exhibition is the first of two projects focused on the art of graphics in the 16th century, when the artistic style Mannerism gained ground, which the NGP has been preparing in collaboration with the Louvre Museum for several years. “Graphics was a relatively young medium at the time and, together with letterpress, it actually had a role comparable to that of the Internet in the 20th century,” explains Alena Volrábová. “Before, people often had to travel long distances to find art, but then art came to them through graphics. It was in the 16th century that graphics reached technical and artistic perfection and began to expand. We will show top examples from this period at the exhibition,” he adds.
Thanks to close cooperation with the graphic collection of the Louvre Museum, the exhibition enjoys a generous loan from this important institution. Primarily from the rare collection donated to her by the art collector Edmond de Rothschild. Works by Raphael, Jan Brueghel, Hans von Aachen or Bartholomew Spranger and a number of other great artists will be presented. Graphic works by masters of engraving art such as Parmigianino, Schiavone, Cornelis Cort, Hendrick Goltzius, Aegidius Sadeler, Jacques Callot and many others will be exhibited. “I am very pleased that we offer visitors a completely unique opportunity to view a drawing by Michelangelo Buonarroti. None of his works have yet been exhibited in the Czech Republic. And since graphics and drawings are not presented for a long time due to their fragility and sensitivity to light, their presentation to the public is always an exceptional event for us, especially when it comes to the works of such important masters,” says Alicja Knast, general director of NGP, about the exhibition.
The second exhibition within the framework of mutual cooperation will take place in a year, in the spring of 2025 in the Louvre and will focus on art connected with the discovery of nature at the court of Rudolph II.
At the currently opening exhibition in the Valdštejnská jízdárna, exhibits from the Prague National Gallery and the Louvre Museum will be complemented by works on loan from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Viennese Albertina, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, the State Regional Archives in Pilsen – the Klášter workplace , the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the National Library of the Czech Republic, the National Museum, the Prague Castle Collection, the Royal Premonstratensian Canon in Strahov, the Regional Museum in Chrudim, the National Institute of Monuments and other institutions and private collections.
A catalog is published for the exhibition in Czech and later in English. In the premises of the Valdštejnská jízdárna, due to the protection of graphic works, it is necessary to observe reduced lighting.
From Michelangelo to Callot. The Art of Mannerism Graphics
Venue: Valdštejnská jízdárna
Deadline: 17 May – 11 August 2024
National Gallery Prague in cooperation with the Louvre Museum
Chief curators: Xavier Salmon, Musée du Louvre, Alena Volrábová, National Gallery Prague
Expert curators: Blanka Kubíková, Alena Volrábová