I am no artist; my dad thought my charcoal drawing of a boot when at High School was a dog. There were a number of elements of this exhibition which told a story in way which helped me piece together much of the background of how an artist composes his work, executes it and refines it over time.
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| Urbino, home of Federico Barocci |
Federico Barocci Facts:
- Barocci became an established artist in his thirties.
- He rarely used live models to draw nude women e.g. in his Studies for the Virgin Mary in black and red chalk heightened with white which is most probably a young male workshop assistant.
- Cartoonchino (full scale cartoon) was Barocci's invention e.g. Il Perdono & Entombment.
- He made full worked up compositional studies just before he began to paint, to study the distribution of light and shade.
- Chalk was his favourite medium.
- Divine realm of heavenly hosts coming into a painting was another Barocci innovation.
- Barocci only produced one secular narrative painting
Through the second half of 1560s and through the 1570s, Barocci produced a series of major altarpieces for churches in Urbino, his home town, the Marches and elsewhere in central Italy which would establish his reputation.
Masterpieces in the Exhibition included:
- Madonna of the Cat (La Madonna del Gatto), 1575 NG29a
- Entombment of Christ, 1579-82
- Aeneas Fleeing Troy, 1598
- Institution of the Eucharist, 1603-9 (below)
- Self portrait, 1595-1600 (below)
- Crucifixion 1566-7
- Annunciation (L'annunciazione), 1582-4
- Visitation, 1583-6
- Last Supper, 1590-9
- Stigmatisation of Saint Francis, 1594-5
- Immaculate Conception, 1574-75
The Chiaroscuro study for the 'Institution of the Eucharist', c.1603
This beautifully detailed study was lent by the Syndics of Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge which was acquired with contributions from the Art Fund in 2001.This was the first Barocci painting in Rome for 20 years and people queued for days to see it. The most significant of Barocci's 45 surviving drawings for this altarpiece have been reunited again in this exhibition, showing every step of the artist's compositional process.
Self Portrait, Barocci, 1595-1600
Barocci's biographer Bellori described him as being a 'melancholic, chronic insomniac and living with a legacy of pain' caused by his supposed poisoning in the 1560s.The oil on paper is the same as he used to prepare heads in his narrative paintings. Perhaps he intended to include himself in one?
You might like:
Buy tickets for Barocci - Brilliance and Grace, National Galllery, LondonNational gallery profile page of Federico Barocci
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