Palazzo Bianco (Genoa)
Encyclopedia
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is situated at 11, via Garibaldi (known at one time as Strada Nuova, and before that, Via Aurea).
It contains the Gallery of the White Palace, one of the greater city art galleries, and together with those of its neighbors Palazzo Rosso
Palazzo Rosso (Genoa)
Palazzo Rosso is an historical palace of Genoa, northern Italy.Situated in Via Garibaldi, it is one of the most important picture galleries of the city, along with the galleries of Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria Tursi....
and Palazzo Doria Tursi, it forms part of a cluster of museums at that end of the street.
History
Constructed between 1530 and 1540 by Luca Grimaldi, a member of one of the most important Genoese families, in 1658 the palace passed into the possession of the De Franchi family, and in 1711 it was given by Federico De Franchi, its inheritor, to Maria Durazzo Brignole-Sale, his main creditorCreditor
A creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
.
The new owners, between 1714 and 1716, carried out a decisive restoration of the building, adapting it to the tastes of the age. It subsequently earned the name White for the clear color of its exterior decoration.
In 1899, Maria Brignole Sale, the Duchess of Galliera
Galliera
Galliera is a comune in the Province of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 30 km north of Bologna....
and the last member of the family, divested the palace to become municipal property and thus destined it to become a public gallery.
The gallery
"For the formation of a public gallery": with these words, in her testament of 1884, the Duchess dedicated the Gallery of the Palace as a public space, with the intention to increase its collection yet further. This constituted the first nucleus of the civic museum.After 1887, the gallery was enriched by the purchase of numerous private collections. It has since benefited from a transformation due to reordering of the collections and the post-war reconstruction of the palace, curated by Orlando Grosso, Caterina Marcenaro and the architect Franco Albini
Franco Albini
Franco Albini was an Italian Neo-Rationalist architect and designer.A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Politecnico di Milano University in 1929 and began his professional career working for Gio Ponti. He started displaying his works at...
, and from the inward transfer of sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
from other museums and galleries.
The gallery offers a panorama of European painting from the 12th century to the 17th century, with a large prevalence of Genoese, Flemish, French and Spanish painters. Of the 13th and 16th century, works are shown by authors such as Barnaba da Modena
Barnaba da Modena
Barnaba da Modena was an Italian painter of the mid-14th century Lombardy. There is a painting by him in the church of San Francesco in Alba. A Virgin and Child once in Frankfort, was painted in a Byzantine style and is currently located at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,...
, Ludovico Brea
Ludovico Brea
Ludovico Brea was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in and near Genoa.Brea was born into a family of coopers in Nice, and later moving to Liguria, he painted numerous altarpieces that displayed both Lombardy and Flemish influences...
and Luca Cambiaso (including La Madonna della candela). 16th century paintings include work by Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi...
from the Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
school, and Filippino Lippi
Filippino Lippi
Filippino Lippi was an Italian painter working during the High Renaissance in Florence, Italy.-Biography:...
of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. Dutch and Flemish paintings from the 16th to 18th century feature Rubens (including Venus and Mars) and Van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
(including Vertummo and Pomona). Notable Spanish artists of the 17th century included are Zurbarán, Murillo
Bartolomé Estéban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children...
and Ribera.
The activity of the Genoese painters of the 17th and 18th centuries is documented from the works of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was an Italian Baroque artist, painter, printmaker and draftsman, of the Genoese school. He is best known now for his elaborate engravings, and as the inventor of the printmaking technique of monotyping. He was known as Il Grechetto in Italy and in France as Le...
, Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo
Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo
thumb|320px|The dome of the Annunziata, Genoa.Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo was an Italian painter active mainly in Genoa.He was born in Voltri, now part of the comune' of Genoa, the son of a merchant. He trained under Orazio Cambiaso and possibly collaborated with Bernardo Strozzi...
, Bernardo Strozzi
Bernardo Strozzi
Bernardo Strozzi was a prominent and prolific Italian Baroque painter born and active mainly in Genoa, and also active in Venice.-Biography:Strozzi was born in Genoa. He was probably not related to the other Strozzi family....
, Valerio Castello
Valerio Castello
Valerio Castello was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was very active during his short life in Genoa.He was the youngest son of Bernardo Castello, who died when Valerio was six year old...
, Domenico Piola
Domenico Piola
Domenico Piola was a Genoese painter of the Baroque period. His family studio was highly prolific.-Biography:Piola was an Italian painter, draughtsman, printmaker and designer...
, Paul Gerolamo Piola, Gregorio De Ferrari
Gregorio De Ferrari
Gregorio de Ferrari was an Italian Baroque painter of the Genoese school.-Biography:De Ferrari was born in Porto Maurizio. He came to Genoa to study law but instead became a painter. He apprenticed with Domenico Fiasella from 1664–69, and in this period he may have painted in the style of...
and Alessandro Magnasco
Alessandro Magnasco
Alessandro Magnasco , also known as il Lissandrino, was an Italian late-Baroque painter active mostly in Milan and Genoa...
.
Other important paintings in the collection
- CaravaggioCaravaggioMichelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
: Ecce HomoEcce Homo (Caravaggio)Ecce Homo is a painting by the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio . It is housed in the Palazzo Rosso, Genoa.-Background:... - Hans MemlingHans MemlingHans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.-Life and works:Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden...
: Benedictory Christ (Ecce Homo) - Gerard DavidGerard DavidGerard David was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color.-Life:...
: Polittico della Cervara (PolyptychPolyptychA polyptych generally refers to a painting which is divided into sections, or panels. The terminology that follows is in relevance to the number of panels integrated into a particular piece of work: "diptych" describes a two-part work of art; "triptych" describes a three-part work; "tetraptych"...
of the Cervara)