Places
94
Body KNOW BEFORE Ihilique vitiYOU ut vitaGO: cor asi doluptibus dolupi-
A Primer on ‘Bernini & the Roman Baroque’ ent ut et eicimus remporibusam rem vid ut offici dolorepro officiis que nonserum ea dolorem quidi doluptia derrore sequaest omnihilicae occus
Character Style
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT Guillaume Courtois, called “Il Borgognone,” Agar and Ismael, c. 1670, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of Collection Fagiolo, Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia.
written by SARAH J. HALL DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON COUNTY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS This summer, for the first time since 1965, the museum is bringing a spectacular collection of Old Master paintings to Hagerstown. “Bernini & the Roman Baroque: Masterpieces from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia” includes 50 works by 40 artists, exploring the artistic influence of Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680).
Who is Bernini? Perhaps the greatest of the Baroque artists, throughout his long life, Bernini’s work as a sculptor, architect, artist, set designer, playwright and actor had resounding influence. Bernini, a visionary, conceived of the visual arts as a synthesized whole that worked together to create one large, total work of art. His philosophy was groundbreaking and exerted a profound impact on European art of the 17th century. Aspects of Bernini’s style and conception of the arts evolved into a broad cultural phenomenon, spreading concurrently from Naples to Venice, Vienna to Prague, and Bohemia to St. Petersburg, finally assuming full global dimensions when it reached the Americas through monumental church architecture, painting and sculpture.
What is the Baroque? The dominant artistic movement in Europe during the
1600s, the goal of Baroque art was elevating the viewer in mind and soul, and it achieved that through drama, theatricality and emotional appeal. A style that evolved in response to the Protestant Reformation (which began in 1517), Baroque artists in Rome used their artistic skills to hold believers in thrall of the Catholic Church, but the bold and emotionally expressive style rapidly influenced all forms of visual expression and was not simply in service to religion. Baroque art is characterized by theatricality, an interest in dynamic, complex compositions, rich color and dramatic lighting.
About the collection The exhibition comes to Hagerstown June 26 to Sept 19 from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, a hill town about 16 miles from Rome. It is in Ariccia that the Chigi family purchased their country palazzo in 1664, outside of the city and near the pope’s summer residence. The family commissioned Bernini to renovate its palazzo and make extensive changes to the plan of Ariccia. The palazzo, owned by the Chigi family until 1988, became a public museum in 2000. There, the collection of the Chigi family has been augmented and forms the nucleus of the Museum of the Roman Baroque.
The exhibition Organized thematically, the exhibition will begin with an orientation to the palazzo and the town of Ariccia, setting the stage for an understanding of the context of the collection. Bernini is represented through prints depicting his architectural achievements in Ariccia, and also through 10 artworks
