Love and beauty, rebirth in the sign of Venus

(ANSA) - MANTOVA, FEBRUARY 18 From modest Venus to the naked and perfect one, then Venus involved in marriage with the elderly Vulcan or overwhelmed by erotic passion with Mars. The Venus of the seasons and that of disguises in characters of ancient fairy tales, becoming from time to time a symbol of love, fertility, and, par excellence, of femininity, but above all of rebirth. A very topical issue in times when we are looking for ideas to start over, recover, transform after the world catastrophe of the pandemic. Also known as 'the shrine of Venus', with its more than 25 representations of the goddess among stuccos and frescoes, Palazzo Te in Mantua dedicates 2021 to the myth three major exhibition projects, under the title 'Venus Divine-Harmony on the earth' which will be organized from 21 March to 12 December. The events, organized by the Foundation and Civic Museum of Palazzo Te, and promoted by the Municipality of Mantua with the patronage of Mibact and with the contribution of the Fondazione Banca Agricola Mantovana, will start from a survey of the iconographic heritage of the sixteenth-century Mantuan building. Up to creating encounters with some of the great masterpieces of Western art from important European museums, from the paintings of Cranach, Guido Reni, Titian (with his splendid Venus blindfolding Love, preserved in the Galleria Borghese in Rome), and Dosso Dossi, sculptures, tapestries and books. "Extraordinary times like those of these months are asking cultural institutions for answers capable of restoring ways, times and places and great respect for the presence of people", said the director of the Palazzo Te Foundation, Stefano Baia Curioni, presenting the project today. together with the scientific committee (Francesca Cappelleti, Stefano L'Occaso and the curator Claudia Cieri Via) and the mayor Mattia Palazzi. A project which, as the director and mayor reiterated, aims to keep Mantua among the privileged places to attract culture lovers to Italy, but also tourists, key sectors for the post-pandemic recovery. To inaugurate the exhibition on 21 March 'Venere a Palazzo Te' (which will remain set up until the closing date of 12 December). It will be possible to rediscover the goddess of Olympus in the various representations, such as the sumptuous room of Cupid and Psyche, among the most decorated rooms by Giulio Romano and his pupils. From 22 June to 5 September, Titian's masterpiece, 'Venere che benda amore', on loan from the Galleria Borghese in Rome, will be exhibited. The painting, dated between 1560 and 1565, in the last years of the artist's life, is considered one of the most fascinating paintings also because it is difficult to interpret and read. On 12 September opens the last part (until 12 December), the exhibition 'Venere. Nature, shadows and beauty ', set up thanks to loans from international museums. In this section, here is the goddess in the Italian and European iconographic vision of the sixteenth century. The final exhibition also gives the title to the conference which will take place on April 16, again at Palazzo Te (with live streaming). In the conference the myth analyzed in all its forms and in particular for its ability to survive from Greek mythology to become a model of comparison for women in the explosion of portrait collecting in the sixteenth century. These were also the years in which the idea emerged among artists that a contemporary beauty could lend not only the face but also the body to Venus. To the point that the king of France, Francesco I, receiving a Venus by Lorenzo Costa as a gift from the Marquis of Mantua, immediately inquired if the model had been a lady of the court. (HANDLE).-