Download Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Presents Modeling Devotion

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Presents
Modeling Devotion: Terracotta Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance
Exhibition Highlights New Discoveries about Isabella Gardner’s Terracotta Sculptures
—Including their Attribution, Condition, Technique, and Even Fakes and Forgeries
Matteo Civitali, Virgin and Child, ca. 1480
• A Touching Portrayal of Reciprocal Adoration
Giovanni Bastianini, Bust of a Woman,
ca. 1860 • A Forgery
February 25 through May 23, 2010 • Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Organized by Alan Chong, William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection, and
Valentine Talland, Senior Objects Conservator
BOSTON, MA • FEBRUARY 18, 2010 • In Italy during the Renaissance (around 1400 to 1600), an innovative form
of sculpture was developed using fine clay that was shaped and modeled before being fired in a kiln. Called
terracotta in Italian (meaning “baked earth”), this type of sculpture often has been overlooked by scholars in favor of
the more commonly known Renaissance sculptures carved in marble or cast in bronze.
Modeling Devotion: Terracotta Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance, a new scholarly exhibition at the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, on view from February 25 to May 23, 2010, draws attention to this category of art
through a presentation of fifteen terracotta sculptures collected by Isabella Gardner and recently conserved.
Additional works of note are on view in the historic galleries.
“The beauty and significance of painted terracotta sculpture of the Italian Renaissance is only now being
appreciated,” says Alan Chong, the William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum and exhibition curator. “This new attention has helped us identify the maker of one of our most
impressive works, the Deposition of Christ by the almost completely unknown Giovanni de Fondulis.”
Rooted in new scholarship and conservation, Modeling Devotion reveals discoveries about these works and discusses
their highly emotive and expressive qualities, their technique and condition, and even fakes and forgeries that were
created in the late 19th century to fuel a growing market for Renaissance art.
In the 1890s, Isabella Gardner acquired several terracotta sculptures—including large multi-figured compositions of
great rarity and that have survived in remarkable condition. “Unlike many collectors, who scraped off the worn paint
to make the terracotta look more uniform, Isabella Gardner preserved their original coloring, even when not in perfect
condition,” adds Chong.
Painted terracotta sculpture, especially large compositions of multiple figures, are rare in American museums. The
Gardner Museum’s objects preserve much of their original paint. “We are pleased to shine fresh light on this
unexplored aspect of Gardner’s collection,” says Anne Hawley, the Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum. “This exhibition not only highlights beautiful objects that might be overlooked by visitors
to our galleries, but it focuses on materials and processes that are not usually associated with the Italian Renaissance.
This exhibition truly uncovers new scholarship through our collection of historical art.”
Modeling Devotion highlights works by Renaissance artists Matteo Civitali, Giovanni de Fondulis, Benedetto da
Maiano, the Workshop of Andrea della Robbia and Giovanni della Robbia. In preparation for the exhibition,
extensive technical investigation and conservation treatment of several works was undertaken, revealing important
information about their construction and composition. “The generous support of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation
allowed our conservators to study and treat several of our most important works,” adds Hawley. Further examples of
terracotta sculptures are on view on the third floor of the museum.
The title of the exhibition, Modeling Devotion, refers to the technique of shaping these sculptures in clay, as well as to
their importance as an example for devotional behavior in Renaissance Italy. Terracotta sculptures of the Renaissance
inspired prayer and served as models for happy family life. Terracotta sculptures were almost always colored,
whether in paint or fired glazes, and because they were often three-dimensional and life-sized, they possessed a
remarkable immediacy and realism. Clay can be handled easily, enabling the artist to add, remove, and shape the
material as required. This freedom allowed artists not only to capture fine textures and details, but also to give their
works powerful emotions. The most common subjects of such works were religious scenes meant to inspire the
devotion of the faithful, or portraits that recorded individual likeness.
Modeling Devotion presents examples of the various processes employed by terracotta sculptors. For the larger works
consisting of several figures, the artist would sculpt the entire ensemble in wet clay. The figures could be continually
worked and even material added, a freedom not possible when carving stone or wood. When the clay had partially
dried, the sculpture would be cut into pieces between the figures. Bulky areas of clay were hollowed out to create
roughly uniform thickness. During firing, these smaller pieces would be less likely to crack.
EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS • Highlights among Gardner’s fifteen terracotta sculptures in the exhibition include:
Matteo Civitali, Virgin and Christ Child, ca. 1480 • Painted terracotta, height 99 cm (39 in) • In the Virgin and
Child, the subject is an unusual presentation of reciprocal love. The Christ Child kneels on the folds of the
Virgin’s mantle. He looks up at her in prayer, as she gazes cast down on him in the same gesture. The
composition is a striking example of Civitali’s ability to create highly evocative poses and interaction among
sculptural figures. The dynamic relationship between the mother and child is conveyed through their bodies
which lean into each other, while also opening up to the viewer in an almost impossibly balanced arrangement.
“The work is a wonderful gesture of mutual adoration—a rare element in art at this time,” says Chong.
Giovanni de Fondulis, Deposition of Christ and Carlotta of Lusignano, ca. 1480 • Painted terracotta, height
104 cm (49.9 in) • In contrast to the adoration seen in the Civitali, this large work further illustrates the
extraordinary emotional intensity of terracotta sculpture—and of artist Giovanni de Fondulis in particular. The
near life-size figures of Christ, the Virgin, and Saint John intertwine in a sinuous movement that is enhanced by
an intensity of the figures’ facial expressions and gestures.
These two works provide a glimpse into the extreme emotions conveyed in terracotta sculpture. The contrast between
the Virgin and Christ Child’s stillness and quietude is entirely different from the anguish and despair palpably seen in
the Deposition of Christ. However, the two works were made at almost exactly the same time, using the same
materials.
The exhibition further showcases a few examples of glazed terracotta sculptures collected by Isabella Gardner:
Tabernacle by Andrea della Robbia; and Giovanni della Robbia’s monumental Lamentation of Christ, on view in the
historic Long Gallery of the museum. A full exhibition list and additional details about exhibition highlights are
accessible as part of the full exhibition press kit, online via: www.gardnermuseum.org/information/press.asp.
GIOVANNI DE FONDULIS • In its presentation of the Deposition, Modeling Devotion also affirms the attribution of the
Gardner’s Deposition to a previously obscure Renaissance sculptor based in Padua, Giovanni de Fondulis.
Specializing in highly emotional painted terracottas, de Fondulis’ importance has only recently been reconstructed by
art scholars. One of twenty known examples of de Fondulis’ work, the Deposition of Christ and Carlotta of
Lusignano in the Gardner Museum illustrates the extraordinary emotional intensity of terracotta sculptures. Several
terracotta sculptures by de Fondulis have sold recently through Sotheby’s in New York. Recent research has
uncovered new information about the artist and can confirm the attribution of the museum’s Deposition to him. The
re-emergence of this innovative Renaissance sculptor is an important discovery.
FAKES AND FORGERIES • Collectors of the late 19th century craved Renaissance art of all types, terracotta sculpture
being no exception. Because genuine works were rare and often in damaged condition, unscrupulous artists made
objects in the style of the Renaissance to deceive unsuspecting buyers. Some of these works are in Isabella Gardner’s
collection, including a Bust of a Woman by a French imitator of Renaissance work, made in painted and gilded wood
and plaster, and another with the same title made of glazed terracotta. That Isabella Gardner kept two of these works
that were later proven to be forgeries in her world-class collection also reveals much about her as a collector and
museum founder. “To our eyes, these two portraits of beautiful young women look extremely graceful and rather
modern,” adds Chong. “Even after the forgeries were revealed, Gardner left the objects in place; her initial fondness
for them apparently undiminished by scholarship.”
SCHOLARSHIP AND CONSERVATION • In preparation for the exhibition, detailed study and conservation of three of
Gardner’s terracotta sculptures—Matteo Civitali, Virgin and Child, ca. 1480; Benedetto da Maiano, Bust of John the
Baptist, ca. 1480; and Giovanni de Fondulis, Deposition of Christ and Carlotta of Lusignano (details of the Virgin
and Christ), ca. 1480—was undertaken. Funded by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, this work focused on analysis
of paint and the elemental constituents of terracotta from different regions of Italy, providing new insight into their
composition and condition. This research reveals that the works by Civitali and de Fondulis preserve much of their
original 15th-century paint. Benedetto da Maiano’s Bust of John the Baptist has been over-painted several times,
including with a layer of black paint applied to make it appear as though it were made of bronze.
“What is most remarkable about these terracotta sculptures—beautiful in their own right—is that they are in such an
extraordinary state of preservation,” says Valentine Talland, Objects Conservator at the Gardner Museum.
“Terracotta and wood sculpture this old rarely survive to our generation with so much of their original paint. To have
so many of our terracotta works presenting the majority of their original surface and paint is really unusual.”
Analysis also revealed new information about the method of modeling the figures, which were all done by hand, as
indicated by the visible tool marks, the selective massing of the clay, and the individual expressiveness of the
sculpture, and hollowed out with walls of uniform thickness. Methods of evaluation focused on X-radiography and
paint cross-sections and terracotta analysis using Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy
(SEM-EDS), Raman spectroscopy, thermoluminescence, and other methods of evaluation conducted by the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMMING • Programming presented in conjunction with the exhibition offers visitors new
ways to engage in art and ideas at the Gardner Museum through interactions with scholars and drop-in gallery talks.
Highlights include an afternoon of interactive talks with museum and visiting curators providing A Closer Look on
March 10th from 1 to 5 pm, and drop-in gallery for talks on weekend afternoons. Detailed information about
exhibition and other programming at the Gardner is available on the museum’s website and online calendar at:
www.gardnermuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibition.asp; and http://connect.gardnermuseum.org/site/Calendar/.
This exhibition has been made possible in part by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The Gardner Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
IMAGE CAPTIONS • Matteo Civitali, Virgin and Child, ca. 1480. Painted terracotta, height 99 cm • Giovanni Bastianini (19thcentury imitator of a Renaissance work), Bust of a Woman, ca. 1860. Glazed terracotta, height 57 cm (22.4 in) • Giovanni de Fondulis,
Deposition of Christ and Carlotta of Lusignano, ca. 1480 (details of the Virgin and Christ). Painted terracotta, height 104 cm.
BUILDING ON A LEGACY • Modeling Devotion is the final exhibition to be presented in the small first-floor special
exhibition gallery in the historic Museum building, in anticipation of construction of a new wing designed by Pritzker
Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. The new wing will feature a new 2,000 square foot special exhibition gallery
with an adjustable ceiling (adjustable to three heights), an entire north wall of glass, and a skylight with micro louvers
to allow for the manipulation of special conditions and natural light. The new wing will provide 70,000 square feet of
additional space to the historic Gardner Museum to continue the programmatic legacy of its founder, while also
enabling the Museum to restore areas of the historic Museum palace to their original orientations during Isabella
Gardner’s day. Construction of the new wing is expected to be completed in Fall 2011. The new wing is anticipated
to open in early 2012. Visit www.newbuilding.gardnermuseum.org for more information about the project and design
of the special exhibition gallery and other areas of the new landmark building.
ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM • 280 The Fenway Boston MA 02115 • Tue.-Sun., 11 am-5 pm • admission: Adults $12;
Seniors $10; Students $5; Free for members, children under 18, everyone on his/her birthday, and all named “Isabella” • “After Hours”
admission: Adults $12; Seniors $10; Students $5; Free for members, • $2 off admission with a same-day Museum of Fine Arts, Boston • Info
Line: 617.566.1401 • Box Office: 617.278.5156 • www.gardnermuseum.org • Modeled after a 15th-century Venetian palazzo
surrounding a courtyard garden, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum houses one of the most remarkable art
collections in the world, featuring works by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Degas, and Sargent. Visit the
Gardner online for more about special exhibitions, concerts, innovative arts education programs, and evening events.
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JOIN US! • PRESS PREVIEW EVENT • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 • 9:00 TO 10:30 AM • Please join exhibition curator Alan Chong for an exclusive
press preview of the exhibition and reception on Wednesday, February 24 from 9:00 to 10:30 am. FREE parking is available at the MFA garage for media
guests with advance notice. Please RSVP to Katherine Armstrong in the Museum’s press office at 617.278.5107 or [email protected].
PRESS KIT • A full press kit PDF on the exhibition, including an image/caption sheet, accompanying programming, curator bio, and exhibition wall text, is
available via the Museum’s online press area at: www.gardnermuseum.org/press_releases/2009/historic/modeling_devotion_presskit.pdf. Please contact the
Museum’s press office for additional information, access to the curator and director, and images.
MEDIA CONTACTS • Katherine Armstrong PR Director 617.278.5107 work 617.956.2565 cell [email protected]
Matt Montgomery Director of Marketing 617.278.5184 work [email protected]