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Contact: Erika Lindsay,
SAM Public Relations
(206) 654-3158;
email: PR@SeattleArtMuseum.org
Spring Brings an Italian Art Renaissance at SAM
Renaissance Art in Focus: Neri di Bicci and Devotional Painting in Italy
March 25, 2004–February 13, 2005
SEATTLE, March 9, 2004 – This spring the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) will present Renaissance Art in Focus: Neri di Bicci and Devotional Art in Italy. The exhibition will feature an altarpiece by the Florentine Renaissance artist Neri di Bicci (c.1418-c.1492), Virgin and Child with Six Saints (1456), from Seattle’s St. James Cathedral, as well as approximately 13 early Renaissance paintings from SAM’s own permanent collection and other lenders. The exhibition, on view March 25 – June 13, 2004 on the fourth floor, will be the first public presentation of the altarpiece following its conservation and restoration at the Seattle Art Museum by SAM’s Chief Paintings Conservator, Nicholas Dorman.
For roughly 300 years, from about 1200 to 1500, most European paintings were devotional objects, commissioned to occupy sacred spaces in Christian churches and private chapels. Born in 1419, Neri di Bicci came from a family of Florentine artists. His grandfather, Lorenzo di Bicci, started the family painting workshop and passed the trade to his son, Bicci di Lorenzo. The dynasty’s most prosperous period was under the direction of Neri, whose paintings were sought out by members of every level of society, from shopkeepers to nobility. His works are best known for brilliant pigments, gold backgrounds, the incorporation of elements of Renaissance architecture, and the somber facial expressions of the figures. While not an innovator, di Bicci was one of the most successful Florentine painters of the period because of his ability to create pleasing, conservative religious images that appealed to a wide audience. He also wrote the Ricordanze, one of the most important literary sources on artistic practice during the Renaissance.
The exhibition will compare di Bicci’s techniques and materials with smaller devotional images from SAM’s Kress Collection. The range of paintings will provide insight into the interrelationship between style, technique, and the changing format of the Italian altarpiece, while giving an account of workshop practice. The exhibition will also show the technical methods that conservators and curators use to determine the history of each painting, including x-radiographs and infra-red reflectograms, which reveal information such as drawing or changes hidden beneath the surface of a painting.
The exhibition is curated by Chiyo Ishikawa, Chief Curator of Collections and Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, and Nicholas Dorman, SAM’s Chief Paintings Conservator. It will be accompanied by a catalogue on sale at the museum store.
Dual Press PreviewOnly Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self Tuesday, March 23 Renaissance Art in Focus: Neri di Bicci and Devotional Painting in Italy SAM is presenting a joint press preview for Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self and Renaissance Art in Focus: Neri di Bicci and Devotional Painting in Italy. Starting at 2 p.m. press are invited to see the restoration in process of the Neri di Bicci altarpiece from Seattle's St. James Cathedral and tour SAM's conservation studio with Chief Paintings Conservator Nicholas Dorman followed by an exhibition tour of Renaissance Art in Focus with European Art curator Chiyo Ishikawa. At 3 p.m. Lisa Corrin, SAM's Modern and Contemporary Art curator will tour press through the highlights of the hundreds of photographs featured in Only Skin Deep. Please RSVP to SAM PR at 206.654.3158 or email: pr@seattleartmuseum.org. 2 - 4 p.m. SAM Downtown.
This exhibition was organized by the Seattle Art Museum and has been made possible with generous support from Bank of America, The Clowes Fund, and the Mary and Dean Thornton Exhibition Endowment. Additional support provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and Contributors to the Annual Fund.
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