Angels from Rome. Roma Aeterna

34 works and a series of 8 paintings by Donato Creti from the permanent exhibition of the Pinakothek were brought to Moscow. Works from the 12th to the 18th centuries are presented. This is a tenth of the collection, which includes 460 works. It is interesting that a number of paintings left their native walls for the first time. Most of the paintings were selected for the exhibition by the director of the Tretyakov Gallery, Zelfira Tregulova, and the curator, art historian and curator of the Hermitage’s prints department, Arkady Ippolitov.

A return exhibition from the Tretyakov Gallery’s collection will go to the Vatican next fall.

The Vatican Museums are a museum of the history of Rome and Roman art. Here you can study all seven centuries of the history of the Papal State. Each hall of the Pinakothek is dedicated to one century. The eighth hall is dedicated to the work of Raphael.

Deputy Director of the Vatican Museums Barbara Yatta talks about the history of the Vatican Museums and more about the Pinacoteca. The current exhibition is “a very symbolic and unique selection from the collection of the Vatican Museums... The very arrangement of the works allows us to understand the historical connection. The exhibition shows how each work is located in one or another hall of the Pinakothek...”

“This exhibition is a contribution to the relations between our countries and, most importantly, it is something that will leave a mark in the souls of the Russian people...”

The sound of the Italian language is an excellent additional opportunity to understand the very spirit of the Roman school of painting that the organizers wanted to convey.

HALL I

1 (left). Roman school. Christ the Blesser. XII century Altar image. Canvas pasted on wood, tempera.
“The exhibition begins with the rare ancient icon “Christ the Blessing,” created in the second half of the 12th century by a master working in Rome under the influence of Byzantine painting. Before entering the Pinacoteca, it was located in the church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, one of the oldest in Rome. The Roman master presented Jesus Christ in the image of Pantocrator, that is, the ruler of the Universe, and the icon, being an analogy of ancient Russian images of the Savior Pantocrator, preserves the memory of unity christian church before schism, that is, before its division into Catholic and Orthodox, and shows the direct relationship of Italian and Russian art, coming from the same root.”

But what different paths the art of our countries took in the future! Within the walls of the Tretyakov Gallery this is felt especially acutely.
Sincere faith comes from these two paintings, the oldest in the exhibition.

2. Margaritone di Magnano, nicknamed Margaritone d'Arezzo ca. 1216–1290).
Saint Francis of Assisi. 1250–1270. Altar image. Wood, tempera, gold. 127.2x53.9 cm.
"Margaritone d" Arezzo, born before Giotto and Duccio, is one of the greatest painters of medieval Italy. The painting is included in all textbooks on the history of art as an outstanding example of the late Romanesque style, but it is also interesting because it is one of the earliest images of the saint Francis of Assisi, made shortly after his canonization in 1228. St. Francis played a vital role in the history of the Western church, it is not for nothing that his name was chosen by the current pope, who became the first Francis in the history of the Vatican.This work may have been exactly the one that Vasari wrote in his Life Margaritone" described as painted from life, so that it can be considered almost one of the first portraits in Italian painting."

7 (left). Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370–1427).
Scenes from the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker: St. Nicholas calms the storm and saves the ship. OK. 1425. Predella. Wood, tempera.
“Part of the predella by Gentile da Fabriano, one of the most captivating masters of Italian late Gothic, tells of a miracle performed by Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, equally revered by the Orthodox and Catholic churches. On a ship caught in a storm and doomed to destruction, the sailors offered a prayer to Saint Nicholas, and he came to the rescue. The artist depicts the moment when the saint rushes from heaven to save the sailors. The mermaid swimming in the waves, according to medieval symbolism, personifies the demonic force that caused the storm, but Gentile da Fabriano, who scattered fantastic inhabitants in the waters depths of the sea, turns an edifying story about victory over the devil into a wonderful, picturesque mirage.”

8 (on right). Guido di Pietro, nicknamed Fra Beato Angelico (c. 1395–1455).
Scenes from the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Around 1447–1449 (?). Predella. Wood, tempera, gold.
“Guido di Pietro took monastic vows under the name of Brother Giovanni, but Vasari already nicknamed him Angelico, the Angelic, both for the charm of his art and for the gentleness of his character. Later, the adjective “Beato” was added to the nickname, and he entered the history of art under the name Fra Beato Angelico, the Blessed Angelic Brother. In 1982, Pope John Paul II officially beatified him, and now he has become the patron saint of artists. This is the most gentle and poetic artist of the Florentine 15th century. This work is dedicated to the miracles of St. Nicholas performed by him after his death. On the right, Saint Nicholas saves a ship from destruction, on the left, he addresses the sailors who sailed from Alexandria with a cargo of grain for the Roman emperor. He asks them to give grain to save his hometown from hunger, and promises that the load will not decrease from this.”

10 (left). Carlo Crivelli (1435–1494).
Mourning. 1488. Lunette. Wood, tempera, gold.
“Carlo Crivelli, a Venetian by birth, left his native city early and became famous in the Marche region. During his lifetime he was popular, but later he was forgotten and rediscovered only at the end of the 19th century. This lunette, which crowned the large altar, is one of his most stunning works. For the sake of expressiveness, the artist resorts to obvious violations of proportions, and in order to intertwine the hands of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Magdalene together, Crivelli makes the right hand of Christ much longer than the left. Bent over a knot of palms, Magdalene’s face, distorted by crying, becomes the emotional center of the picture. The work is strongly influenced by Northern Gothic, and is characterized by that incredible intensity of psychological experience that is characteristic of the mystical religious movements of the 15th century.”

11 (in the center). Giovanni Bellini (c. 1432–1516).
Lamentation of Christ with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene. OK. 1471–1474. Altar top. Wood, oil. 107x84 cm.
“Bellini is the greatest artist of the Venetian school of the 15th century. This painting is one of his masterpieces. It was the finial of a large altar, and in its composition Bellini takes a decisive step towards the calm grandeur of the High Renaissance, overtaking many of his contemporary Florentine artists. The work is avant-garde in the mere fact that it is painted in oils, using a completely new technique for Italy, just brought to Venice from the Netherlands. The iconography is also original. Usually the main person in the Lamentation scene is the Virgin Mary. Only Joseph of Arimathea, Saint Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene are depicted here supporting Jesus from behind. The thoughtful silence in which the characters are immersed, emphasized by the tension of their clasped hands, gives this scene a rare psychological acuity.”

9 (on right). Ercole de Roberti (c. 1450–1496).
Miracles of Saint Vincenzo Ferrer. 1473. Predella. Wood, tempera.
“In the 15th century, Ferrara flourished under the Dukes of Este, becoming an influential cultural center of Renaissance Italy. Ercole de Roberti is one of the most original artists of the Ferrara school. His predella is considered the most sophisticated predella of the Renaissance. It is dedicated to the acts of the Spanish saint Vincenzo Ferrer and is full of mysterious and the alluring spirit of Ferrara. The following episodes are depicted (from left to right): healing of a woman in labor - landscape - resurrection of a rich Jew - healing of a lame man - rescue of a child from a burning house - child killed by an insane mother - resurrection of a child. The iconography of the predella has not been fully deciphered, and the artist shows his erudition, combining Gothic extravagance with references to ancient art."

14.15. Melozzo degli Ambrosi, nicknamed Melozzo da Forli (1438–1494).
Angels playing the lute. 1480. Fragments of a fresco removed from the wall. Right size: 117x93.5 cm.
The artist “...was invited to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV. He created many frescoes in Roman churches, so that Melozzo can be considered the founder of the Roman school, which flourished in the 16th–17th centuries. Three angels playing music are fragments of his painting of the dome of the Church of Santi Apostoli, a huge multi-figure composition “The Ascension of Christ”.
The fresco was perceived by contemporaries as a triumph of papal power, which revived Rome. The divine orchestra of angels symbolized the unearthly beauty of paradise, and the abstract concept of “music of heaven” is associated with the philosophical constructions of the model of the world, which the Pythagoreans and Platonists spoke about. Melozzo, as a Renaissance artist, combines ancient and Christian traditions in his work. His angels, glorifying the Lord according to the words of the Bible: “Let them praise His name with faces, on tympanum and harp, let them sing to Him, for the Lord takes pleasure in His people, glorifying the humble with salvation,” ideal, like ancient statues, and at the same time vital - they look like young pages at the courts of Renaissance rulers.”


Among the many crucifixions, lamentations, entombments and other tragic scenes, the section of the exhibition with three angel-musicians is like a bright corner of paradise, a rest for the soul. They are characterized by lightness, lack of exaltation, and deliberate theatricality. The roughness and dullness of the fresco attracts the eye.

Listen and watch the story about the Pinakothek of Barbara Yatta and the continuation of the excursion

34 works and a series of 8 paintings by Donato Creti from the permanent exhibition of the Pinakothek were brought to Moscow. Works from the 12th to the 18th centuries are presented. This is a tenth of the collection, which includes 460 works. It is interesting that a number of paintings left their native walls for the first time. Most of the paintings were selected for the exhibition by the director of the Tretyakov Gallery, Zelfira Tregulova, and the curator, art historian and curator of the Hermitage’s prints department, Arkady Ippolitov.

A return exhibition from the Tretyakov Gallery’s collection will go to the Vatican next fall.

The Vatican Museums are a museum of the history of Rome and Roman art. Here you can study all seven centuries of the history of the Papal State. Each hall of the Pinakothek is dedicated to one century. The eighth hall is dedicated to the work of Raphael.

Deputy Director of the Vatican Museums Barbara Yatta talks about the history of the Vatican Museums and more about the Pinacoteca. The current exhibition is “a very symbolic and unique selection from the collection of the Vatican Museums... The very arrangement of the works allows us to understand the historical connection. The exhibition shows how each work is located in one or another hall of the Pinakothek...”

“This exhibition is a contribution to the relations between our countries and, most importantly, it is something that will leave a mark in the souls of the Russian people...”

The sound of the Italian language is an excellent additional opportunity to understand the very spirit of the Roman school of painting that the organizers wanted to convey.

HALL I

1 (left). Roman school. Christ the Blesser. XII century Altar image. Canvas pasted on wood, tempera.
“The exhibition begins with the rare ancient icon “Christ the Blessing,” created in the second half of the 12th century by a master working in Rome under the influence of Byzantine painting. Before entering the Pinacoteca, it was located in the church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, one of the oldest in Rome. The Roman master presented Jesus Christ in the image of Pantocrator, that is, the ruler of the Universe, and the icon, being an analogy of ancient Russian images of the Savior Pantocrator, preserves the memory of the unity of the Christian church before the schism, that is, before its division into Catholic and Orthodox, and shows the direct kinship of Italian and Russian art coming from the same root."

But what different paths the art of our countries took in the future! Within the walls of the Tretyakov Gallery this is felt especially acutely.
Sincere faith comes from these two paintings, the oldest in the exhibition.

2. Margaritone di Magnano, nicknamed Margaritone d'Arezzo ca. 1216–1290).
Saint Francis of Assisi. 1250–1270. Altar image. Wood, tempera, gold. 127.2x53.9 cm.
"Margaritone d" Arezzo, born before Giotto and Duccio, is one of the greatest painters of medieval Italy. The painting is included in all textbooks on the history of art as an outstanding example of the late Romanesque style, but it is also interesting because it is one of the earliest images of the saint Francis of Assisi, made shortly after his canonization in 1228. St. Francis played a vital role in the history of the Western church, it is not for nothing that his name was chosen by the current pope, who became the first Francis in the history of the Vatican.This work may have been exactly the one that Vasari wrote in his Life Margaritone" described as painted from life, so that it can be considered almost one of the first portraits in Italian painting."

7 (left). Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370–1427).
Scenes from the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker: St. Nicholas calms the storm and saves the ship. OK. 1425. Predella. Wood, tempera.
“Part of the predella by Gentile da Fabriano, one of the most captivating masters of Italian late Gothic, tells of a miracle performed by St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, equally revered by the Orthodox and Catholic churches. On a ship caught in a storm and doomed to destruction, the sailors offered a prayer to Saint Nicholas, and he came to the rescue. The artist depicts the moment when the saint rushes from heaven to save the sailors. The mermaid swimming in the waves, according to medieval symbolism, personifies the demonic force that caused the storm, but Gentile da Fabriano, who scattered fantastic inhabitants of the deep sea in the waters, turns the edifying story about the victory over the devil into a wonderful picturesque mirage.”

8 (on right). Guido di Pietro, nicknamed Fra Beato Angelico (c. 1395–1455).
Scenes from the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Around 1447–1449 (?). Predella. Wood, tempera, gold.
“Guido di Pietro took monastic vows under the name of Brother Giovanni, but Vasari already nicknamed him Angelico, the Angelic, both for the charm of his art and for the gentleness of his character. Later, the adjective “Beato” was added to the nickname, and he entered the history of art under the name Fra Beato Angelico, the Blessed Angelic Brother. In 1982, Pope John Paul II officially beatified him, and now he has become the patron saint of artists. This is the most gentle and poetic artist of the Florentine 15th century. This work is dedicated to the miracles of St. Nicholas performed by him after his death. On the right, Saint Nicholas saves a ship from destruction, on the left, he addresses the sailors who sailed from Alexandria with a cargo of grain for the Roman emperor. He asks them to give grain to save his hometown from famine, and promises that this will not reduce the load.”

10 (left). Carlo Crivelli (1435–1494).
Mourning. 1488. Lunette. Wood, tempera, gold.
“Carlo Crivelli, a Venetian by birth, left his native city early and became famous in the Marche region. During his lifetime he was popular, but later he was forgotten and rediscovered only at the end of the 19th century. This lunette, which crowned the large altar, is one of his most stunning works. For the sake of expressiveness, the artist resorts to obvious violations of proportions, and in order to intertwine the hands of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Magdalene together, Crivelli makes the right hand of Christ much longer than the left. Bent over a knot of palms, Magdalene’s face, distorted by crying, becomes the emotional center of the picture. The work is strongly influenced by Northern Gothic, and is characterized by that incredible intensity of psychological experience that is characteristic of the mystical religious movements of the 15th century.”

11 (in the center). Giovanni Bellini (c. 1432–1516).
Lamentation of Christ with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene. OK. 1471–1474. Altar top. Wood, oil. 107x84 cm.
“Bellini is the greatest artist of the Venetian school of the 15th century. This painting is one of his masterpieces. It was the finial of a large altar, and in its composition Bellini takes a decisive step towards the calm grandeur of the High Renaissance, overtaking many of his contemporary Florentine artists. The work is avant-garde in the mere fact that it is painted in oils, using a completely new technique for Italy, just brought to Venice from the Netherlands. The iconography is also original. Usually the main person in the Lamentation scene is the Virgin Mary. Only Joseph of Arimathea, Saint Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene are depicted here supporting Jesus from behind. The thoughtful silence in which the characters are immersed, emphasized by the tension of their clasped hands, gives this scene a rare psychological acuity.”

9 (on right). Ercole de Roberti (c. 1450–1496).
Miracles of Saint Vincenzo Ferrer. 1473. Predella. Wood, tempera.
“In the 15th century, Ferrara flourished under the Dukes of Este, becoming an influential cultural center of Renaissance Italy. Ercole de Roberti is one of the most original artists of the Ferrara school. His predella is considered the most sophisticated predella of the Renaissance. It is dedicated to the acts of the Spanish saint Vincenzo Ferrer and is full of mysterious and the alluring spirit of Ferrara. The following episodes are depicted (from left to right): healing of a woman in labor - landscape - resurrection of a rich Jew - healing of a lame man - rescue of a child from a burning house - child killed by an insane mother - resurrection of a child. The iconography of the predella has not been fully deciphered, and the artist shows his erudition, combining Gothic extravagance with references to ancient art."

14.15. Melozzo degli Ambrosi, nicknamed Melozzo da Forli (1438–1494).
Angels playing the lute. 1480. Fragments of a fresco removed from the wall. Right size: 117x93.5 cm.
The artist “...was invited to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV. He created many frescoes in Roman churches, so that Melozzo can be considered the founder of the Roman school, which flourished in the 16th–17th centuries. Three angels playing music are fragments of his painting of the dome of the Church of Santi Apostoli, a huge multi-figure composition “The Ascension of Christ”.
The fresco was perceived by contemporaries as a triumph of papal power, which revived Rome. The divine orchestra of angels symbolized the unearthly beauty of paradise, and the abstract concept of “music of heaven” is associated with the philosophical constructions of the model of the world, which the Pythagoreans and Platonists spoke about. Melozzo, as a Renaissance artist, combines ancient and Christian traditions in his work. His angels, glorifying the Lord according to the words of the Bible: “Let them praise His name with faces, on tympanum and harp, let them sing to Him, for the Lord takes pleasure in His people, glorifying the humble with salvation,” ideal, like ancient statues, and at the same time vital - they look like young pages at the courts of Renaissance rulers.”


Among the many crucifixions, lamentations, entombments and other tragic scenes, the section of the exhibition with three angel-musicians is like a bright corner of paradise, a rest for the soul. They are characterized by lightness, lack of exaltation, and deliberate theatricality. The roughness and dullness of the fresco attracts the eye.

Listen and watch the story about the Pinakothek of Barbara Yatta and the continuation of the excursion

The Vatican Exhibition in Moscow is an amazing and happy event. The Vatican Museums very rarely give out their most valuable exhibits for export, and this is the first time in such quantities. At the same time, “Roma Aeterna. Masterpieces of the Vatican Pinacoteca. Bellini, Raphael, Caravaggio” is not only a collection of works of high artistic merit, important for the history of art and joyful for the public, majestic and naive, spectacular and tender. All the masterpieces here form a fragmentary, but logical and solemn statement about Roma Aeterna, eternal Rome as the most important ideal city for Russian culture, the absolute spiritual center.

The curator of the exhibition, Arkady Ippolitov, assures that not a single painting here is accidental, they are all connected with each other and with Rome. You can, of course, not read the parallels and rhymes between the things that make up the exhibition and enjoy each of them directly. Let’s say we spend a long time looking at scenes of five miracles performed by Saint Vincenzo Ferrer (the healing of a woman in labor, the resurrection of a rich Jew, the healing of a lame man, the rescue of a child from a burning house, the resurrection of a child killed by an insane mother), depicted sequentially and in detail on a two-meter board by Ercole de Roberti. Or enjoy the sight of the three most beautiful angels playing music by Melozzo da Forlì, pop symbols of the Vatican Pinakothek, whose charm has not suffered at all from repeated reproduction. But, starting with the image of Christ Blessing that greets the audience in the second half of the 12th century. - stern and solemn - a feeling of admiration and grandeur will not leave the beholder, as well as a feeling of spiritual and cultural kinship with what he saw.

How to get

Director of the Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova answered questions about the work of the exhibition to Vedomosti. Firstly, she noted, the exhibition is taking place in the Engineering Building of the gallery, where the foyer and wardrobe are much smaller than in the building on Krymsky Val, because the climatic conditions there are more favorable for the imported works. Secondly, online sales of tickets for January - February will be resumed (all tickets are sold until December) and they will be personalized, although this measure cannot completely eliminate the activities of speculators. Naturally, it will be possible to join a live queue; people will be allowed into the exhibition by session. “But we are not going to break the records set by the Aivazovsky exhibition,” Tregulova emphasized.

In the first hall of the exhibition, where medieval and early Renaissance items are collected, two scenes from the life of Nicholas of Myra, a particularly revered saint in our country, are primarily responsible for Russian-Roman connections - the sweet and naive Gentile da Fabriano and the artistic Fra Beato Angelico. The image of Francis of Assisi by Margaritone d’Arezzo, who may have personally known the saint, but still painted not a portrait, but an icon in our understanding - on a board with a gold background, speaks about the same thing, about closeness. Well, the greatness here is set by the monumental “Lamentation of Christ with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene” by Giovanni Bellini, impressive with light contrasts, noble gloom and unearthly expressiveness of the characters’ faces.

Photo gallery

The main symbol of the universal triumph of papal Rome is itself the great “Entombment” by Caravaggio, shown at the Pushkin Museum five years ago and again striking in its power. The second, semicircular hall of the exhibition, in some very rough way reminiscent of St. Peter's Cathedral, brought together the Caravaggists Gentileschi and Saraceni, the Bolognese Lodovico Carracci and Guido Reni, the classicist Nicolas Poussin - more Roman than French. His “Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus” rivals Caravaggio’s gloomy painting in its brightness and purity of color, and is close to it in its pathos. As written in the press release, this painting “caused the admiration of many Russian artists who lived in Rome.” And she influenced them, like all the painters of imperial St. Petersburg, for which the Eternal City was the same unattainable ideal as for Moscow during the time of Ivan the Terrible.

Raphael. Faith. 1507 Vatican Museums.

At the exhibition , curated by Arkady Ipollitov (State Hermitage Museum), will be presented 42 paintings . Never before have the Vatican Museums, which are among the ten largest collections in the world, taken outside their borders at the same time such a significant number of outstanding works from the permanent exhibition, so the exhibition will become an event not only for Russia and Europe, but also for the whole world.

« Roma Aeterna..." - part of a large project: in 2017, a reciprocal exhibition will be held in the Vatican, a significant part of its exhibits will be works of Russian painting on gospel subjects from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Holding in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the largest collection of Russian painting, an exhibition of paintings predominantly of the Italian and predominantly Roman schools is quite natural. The spiritual connection between Moscow and Rome took shape back in the 16th century, and this joint project is the most important result of the interaction of two cultures: the culture of Rome, as the embodiment of Europeanness, and the culture of Moscow, as the embodiment of Russianness. It is natural that among the great works presented at the exhibition, one can find many analogies and parallels with Russian art.

The purpose of the show is to present both the collection of the Pinacoteca, a section of the Vatican Museums, and the spirit of Rome, the great city. The Pinakothek collection was created as a collection of a state, the head of which is a clergyman, which is reflected in its composition - this is the greatest collection of religious painting. Religion is a form of awareness of the world, so religious art is not reduced to a set of biblical or evangelical subjects, and the collection of the Vatican Pinacothek tells us exactly this. It is as diverse as the culture of Rome, which is why the exhibition title includes the Latin expression Roma Aeterna, “Eternal Rome.” This means the enormous cultural unity that Rome has become in the history of mankind, a city at the same time ancient and modern, uniting into a single whole such different eras as Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque. Rome is the center of empire, the center of religion and the center of art: we can say that the concept of Roma Aeterna is one of the most important ideas of world culture. The exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery is dedicated to this idea.

Each piece presented at the exhibition is exceptional. It begins with a rare example of the Roman school of the 12th century, the image of “Christ Blessing,” which had never before been exhibited at temporary exhibitions and never left the Vatican. This ancient and great work, close to Byzantine painting, is also interesting because it reveals the common roots of Italian and Russian art. This image, which preserves the memory of the unity of Christianity before the schism, is followed by the work of Margaritone d’Arezzo “St. Francis of Assisi” (13th century). It is included in all art history textbooks and is valuable because it is one of the earliest images of a saint who played an important role in the history of the Western church. It was his name that was chosen by the current pope, who became the first Francis in the history of the Vatican. Also presented are works by Gothic masters, which are extremely rare in Russian collections. Among them is “Jesus before Pilate” by Pietro Lorenzetti, which uniquely echoes the famous painting by Nikolai Ge.

Two predella (predella - the lower part of the altar), telling stories from the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, equally revered by the Orthodox and Catholic churches, stand on the border of Gothic and Renaissance. One of them belongs to the brush of Gentile da Fabriano, who completed the era of international Gothic in Italy, whose works are not only absent in Russian collections, but were not exhibited in Russia at all, the second is by the brush of Fra Beato Angelico, the great Florentine of the Early Renaissance.

Two paintings date back to the heyday of the Renaissance: "The Miracles of Saint Vincenzo Ferrer" by Ercole de' Roberti , one of the most interesting works of the greatest master of the Ferrara school,

and Lamentation of Christ by the Venetian Giovanni Bellini.

There are no works of both in Russia. The greatest success is that the exhibition will show frescoes of angels by Melozzo da Forli , provided by the Pinakothek for exhibition to other museums in isolated cases. The paintings of this artist, considered one of the greatest painters of the Quattrocento, were removed from the apse dome during the reconstruction of the Church of Santi Apostoli in Rome and now decorate a special room of the Pinacoteca. The works of Melozzo da Forli are so rare that their value is close to the most famous creations of Sandro Botticelli and Piero della Francesca. Having been reproduced in huge numbers on various souvenirs, his angels became business card Rome.

The High Renaissance, that is, the 16th century, is represented by the masterpieces of Perugino, Raphael, Correggio and Paolo Veronese.

Papal Rome reached its greatest power in the 17th century, during the Baroque era, and papal collections represent the painting of this particular century most fully and brilliantly. A masterpiece of this time on display - "Entombment" by Caravaggio.

Altarpiece by Nicolas Poussin “The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus” , the artist's largest work, was painted specifically for St. Peter's Basilica. This work was one of the most famous paintings of the cathedral and was admired by many Russian artists living in Rome.

The Baroque era also includes works by Caravaggists and artists of the Bolognese school (Lodovico Carracci, Guido Reni, Guercino), beautifully represented in the papal collections. The exhibition ends with a series of paintings from the 18th century, essentially the last century in which the papacy played a state role. This series is Bolognese Donato Creti is dedicated to astronomical observations and logically completes the history of Lo Stato Pontificio, the Papal States, which soon ceased to exist and became the Vatican, Lo Stato della Città del Vaticano.

The exhibition catalog includes articles by the curator and employee of the Vatican Museums and an album part, which includes all the exhibited works with detailed annotations.

Holding the exhibition and publishing its catalog would have been impossible without the large-scale support of the A.B. Charitable Foundation. Usmanov “Art, science and sport”. The relationship between the Gallery and the Foundation has a long history: in 2006, anniversary events dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the museum were supported, in 2006-2007 - successful experience of joint work on the James Whistler exhibition, in 2007 - on the retrospective of Dmitry Zhilinsky. This exhibition is the largest ever last years and an unprecedented international project of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Roma Aeterna. Masterpieces of the Vatican Pinacoteca. Bellini, Raphael, Caravaggio
November 25 - February 19, 2017
Lavrushinsky lane, 12

Ticket prices for the exhibitions "Roma Aeterna. Masterpieces of the Vatican Pinacoteca. Bellini, Raphael, Caravaggio" and "Painting and graphics of the 18th-20th centuries from the collection of the Primorsky Art Gallery":

500 rub. - adults

150 rub. - for the following benefit categories:

Pensioners,
Heroes Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Recipients of the Order of Glory,
students of secondary and secondary special education educational institutions(from 18 years old),
students of higher educational institutions of Russia, including foreign citizens - students of Russian universities (except for student interns)
students of faculties specializing in the field visual arts, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of Russia, regardless of the form of education (including foreign citizens - students of Russian universities). Does not apply to persons presenting "student trainee" student cards;
artists, architects, designers - members of the relevant creative unions of Russia and its constituent entities;
members and staff Russian Academy arts;
art historians - members of the Association of Art Critics of Russia and its constituent entities;
employees of museums within the system of the Ministry of Culture of Russia and the relevant executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Free - for the following benefit categories:

For persons under 18 years of age;
members International Council museums (ICOM);
veterans and disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, combatants (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
disabled people of groups I and II (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
military personnel conscript service;
one accompanying person with a group I disability or a disabled child (citizens of Russia and CIS countries)

A visit to the exhibition "Roma Aeterna. Masterpieces of the Vatican Pinacoteca. Bellini, Raphael, Caravaggio" is organized by sessions. The number of people per session is limited for reasons of visitor comfort and proper climatic conditions exhibiting valuable masterpieces.

Online tickets for exhibition dates
"Roma Aeterna. Masterpieces of the Vatican Pinacoteca. Bellini, Raphael, Caravaggio"
sold out until December 30, 2016.

Tickets for the remaining days of the exhibition will go on sale
approximately December 15th.