As the Muscarelle Museum of Art turns 25 in 2008, it will feature two noteworthy exhibitions to celebrate its silver anniversary.
The new installation of the permanent collection will feature five important old master paintings borrowed from the Lauro Collection from Naples, Italy. These 17th-century works of art include two romantic landscapes by Salvator Rosa, a painted preparatory study for an altarpiece by Luca Giordano, Abraham and the Three Angels by Micco Spadaro, and Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan, a rediscovered masterpiece by Diego Velazquez.
Since 1989, Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan has been on long-term loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Muscarelle show is a unique opportunity to view this little-known masterpiece by Velazquez.
The other major exhibition this winter will showcase Italian masterworks from the world-famous Uffizi museum in Florence. Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi has been personally curated by Antonio Natali, the Uffizi director. This exhibition covers five centuries of landscape painting and features more than 40 paintings by such renowned masters as Botticelli, Nicolas Poussin and Canaletto.
The Muscarelle will be the first venue for this traveling exhibition, which runs from Jan. 26, 2008 through March 23, 2008. "This winter, Italian art lovers won't have to journey across the ocean to experience some of Italy's greatest artists," says Dr. Aaron De Groft '88, director of the Muscarelle.
For more information about these exhibitions or the Muscarelle in general, please call 757.221.2700 or visit www.wm.edu/muscarelle.
