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Rating: This will not be a Zot review: it won't even be a review.
Going by memory, I believe this is the first time here on DeBaser that someone writes a "review" about a museum. At most, KyraCollins wrote one about an exhibition.
The first thing to address, when setting it up, was the choice of the author to insert in the title: many are those linked to the various exhibited works (I was tempted by a nice "AA.VV." but then decided against it, fearing that the humor inherent in the thing would not be shared by everyone), unknown are those who built the structure. Notably well-known, however, is the one who (Carlo Scarpa) curated its restoration and then set up the museum exhibition, so important as to deserve "to be credited." The second concerns "how" to tackle the issue, a dilemma resolved in the question "what to talk about mainly?" For example, about the building and the vision behind its restoration and establishment as a museum? About the two main historical-artistic currents (Romanesque Sculpture and Gothic and Renaissance Painting) that occupy much of the rooms? Resolve it with a quick overview of the exhibits?
In the end, I remembered what Philippe Daverio always says, which is that the best way to look at a work of art is to look at it for a long time (he would even invite someone to enter a museum and admire only a single work for the entire visit time, even admitting that this is behavior for true initiates), so after a brief introductory paragraph, I will limit myself to talking to you, as concisely as possible, about the five works, exhibited at Castelvecchio, that for the writer deserve special attention: I know it resembles a "track-by-track," but after sparing you the joke about the various authors, I had to add some Pop.
Castelvecchio: A Brief History of a Stronghold.
It was Cangrande II della Scala, in the mid-1300s, who wanted its construction: the purpose was purely defensive but, unlike what is believed, it was more to protect against possible city riots than from "external" enemies (the position of the bridge, connected to the bank of the Adige facing Northeast and thus offering a route for escape and/or resupply/intervention to the imperial ally, proves this). This function was gradually lost over the centuries, transforming the castle into a residence, then a food storage, prison, arsenal, barracks, and finally a museum in 1924, seeing the important restoration curated by Scarpa, which lasted almost twenty years, on and off, between the '50s and '70s. The same architect also took care of the exhibition path, finding brilliant solutions even in individual installations (as we will soon see). If you want to know more, click here and/or here.
Five "things" at the Castelvecchio Museum to see before you die: (cited in order of "appearance")
"Crucifix and Mourners" (also known as "The Stone Scream") Click here to view the group.
Fourteenth-century sculptural group in tuff, originally painted, attributed to the Master of Santa Anastasia: a name that refers to a movement of Veronese Romanesque and not to a single, actual personality. Christ nailed to a tree (a typically Germanic iconography) and not to the classic cross shows how Verona felt the imperial influence even from an artistic point of view. The dramatic expression is accentuated in the face contorted in a deep scream that renders the eye sockets asymmetrical. The body sacrificing itself in a final spasm of pain is made plastic by the creation of muscles and tendons that, anatomically, don't exist (another feature of Northern European art). The group comes from an ancient church in Verona; in the "new" arrangement decided by Scarpa, it sees the crucifix hung on a metal plate, halfway between the classic Latin cross and a tau, and below, on pedestals, the two mourners: modernity and philological effectiveness together.
"Madonna of the Quail" Click here to see the painting.
Tempera on panel painted around 1420 attributed to Pisanello. The realism of the depicted animals seems to confirm that the hand is the same that painted masterpieces such as "Saint George and the Princess" or the "Vision of Saint Eustace." We are in the full International Gothic (a "language" that here reaches one of its peaks because, not even forty years later, right in Verona, with the San Zeno Altarpiece, it will be reformulated and subverted by Mantegna), and the author, still young, gathers all the influences of the masters of the time and paints one of the most beautiful (yes, I am speaking aesthetically) Madonnas ever. Refined, delicate, and ethereal: to get lost within "in saecula saeculorum." It is no coincidence, in my opinion, that the arrangement places her next to the next work on the "list."
"Madonna of the Rose Garden" Click here to see the painting.
Tempera on panel dating between 1420 and 1440 of uncertain attribution (most lean toward Michelino da Besozzo). A painting that confirms that the Gothic, unlike what one might think, was the triumph of light. The Virgin, the child, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria are depicted while gathering roses within a magnificent garden: religious metaphors and Christological symbols abound, only the angels depicted almost like little birds seem, strangely, to recall more earthly aspects, or perhaps they are just a reminder not to indulge too much in interpretation and to limit oneself to swaying in the color.
"Equestrian Statue of Cangrande I della Scala" Click here to view the sculpture.
Coming from the complex of the Scaliger Tombs (where a copy now stands), probably made of Avesa limestone, it was ordered by his nephew Mastino II (around 1340) to honor the great ancestor (the presence of power symbols like the helmet shaped like a winged dog introduced by the della Scalas only after Cangrande’s death is proof), the statue shows the lord of Verona smiling (a sign of welcome) and with all the honorary trappings (the horse is adorned with them too) complete, but then again, the most illustrious member of a dynasty that, although not alone, inaugurated the period of the signori, a great patron (Dante dedicated "Paradise" to him), and an indefatigable leader deserved the utmost appearance after fully exploring being. Magnificent (and unusual) example of Romanesque art coming from a deeply Gothic complex: Scarpa places it outside (protected from the elements by a roof) dominating the internal garden and close to the spectacular walkways on the walls that give to the Scaligero Bridge and the Adige. A position of power, 700 years later.
"Portrait of a Child with Drawing" Click here to see the painting.
Oil on panel probably painted around 1540 by Giovan Francesco Caroto. Exactly, I don’t know why, instead of other masterpieces present here (including "things" by Mantegna, Veronese, dai Libri, etc.), I placed this small painting (37X29 cm) on the "list," which, among other things, is in an unfortunate position (next to the passage between one room and another) also making its prolonged contemplation difficult. Probably because in an unsuspected era, it is one of the first examples of the appearance of the "artistic ugliness" (the scribble in the drawing proudly shown by the child) and at the same time a sign that the Leonardesque influence was blowing strongly everywhere. Perhaps it is only because after a while I look at it, it reminds me of bad jokes about Punk (which I will spare you), and I don’t know the reason yet, but maybe it is just "a bit of me that goes away."
Entry costs six euros (if you have time to stay in Verona for a couple of days, it’s worth getting the card for fifteen, which also allows you entrance to other museums, churches, etc.). In my opinion, it’s worth it.
Mo.
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