The Naples in Paris exhibition at the Louvre Museum immerses us in the beautiful Italian collections
Could Paris be home to the ideal museum right now? Imagine one of the most prestigious Italian collections combining its treasures with the most visited museum in the world and you will have the answer. For the first time in its history, Naples is coming to Paris with the historic loan from the Capodimonte Museum of around sixty of its most beautiful masterpieces to the Louvre. The unique opportunity to admire in one place three of the most magnificent paintings by Parmigianino, two autograph cartoons by Raphael and Michelangelo or the moving Crucifixion by Masaccio. This sumptuous face-to-face encounter would not seduce us as much without the jewels of the Palais-Royal, its Titian, Correggio, Carracci and Caravaggio, dialoguing in a masterful way with their new tenants. Scattered throughout the different galleries and wings of the museum, the Neapolitan paintings slip here almost clandestinely into the permanent collections, blending in perfectly with the works of Baroque masters like Guido Reni. Bringing together pieces as important as the Portrait of Giulio Clovio by Greco or the Cofanetto Farnese, the most precious and refined works of Renaissance goldsmithing, this grandiose exhibition reveals in broad daylight the richness of a collection, reflection and witness to the different golden ages of the Kingdom of Naples.
Focus on… Danaé
To bring the myth of Danae to life, Titian would have been inspired by the voluptuous curves of Michelangelo's Lost Leda and the allegory of The Night of the Tomb by Julian de' Medici. Its success was such that the artist created another version for King Philip II of Spain. The young mortal approached by Zeus in the form of a shower of gold will never cease to nourish the imagination of the greatest painters, from Tintoretto to Gustav Klimt via Rembrandt.
Focus on… Antea
But who was she? Is this, as historians may have thought, a famous Roman courtesan? Was she the painter's mistress, his servant, an impossible love or the fruit of his imagination? Still, the enigmatic Antea haunts Parmigianino's work right up to his last canvas, The Virgin with the Long Neck.
Focus on… Judith
Queen of Caravaggesque chiaroscuro, Artemisia Gentileschi signs here her most famous and undoubtedly also her most personal work. Victim of rape at the age of 18, the artist satisfies his desire for revenge by lending his features to the ruthless Judith and those of her attacker to Holofernes, transforming a bloody crime scene into cathartic revenge on his past .
