Christmas in Milan: Perugino guest at Palazzo Marino

THEAdoration of the Magi is in conclusion a complex and fascinating work, which summarizes all the suggestions that Pietro was able to feed on during the years of training spent in Florence in Verrocchio's workshop, side by side with those who would have been, together with him, among the greatest protagonists of Renaissance art, from Domenico Ghirlandaio to Sandro Botticelli, from Lorenzo di Credi to Leonardo da Vinci.

The exhibition is curated by Marco Pierini, Director of Gallery National of Umbria. We quote from his essay: "Escaped the first Napoleonic requisitions conducted in Perugia by Jacques-Pierre Tinet in 1796-1797 and the more substantial ones by Dominique-Vivant Denon in 1812, the Adoration of the Magi was included in that same year in the list compiled by Agostino Tofanelli for it to flow into the newly established Capitoline Museum, of which he was the curator. In January 1814, despite the remonstrances of the Perugians and the opposition of the maire, the panel - together with others, ready for months in the coffers - left for Rome, but following the precipitation of the fortunes of the French empire it was never exhibited ; re-established the temporal power of the Pope, the paintings were able to return to Perugia, immediately claimed by the city. According to Serafino Siepi, who wrote at the time, the work – “crossed the seas” – was relocated to S. Maria Nuova in May 1820; however, we know that he traveled much shorter and dry journey! Antonio Mezzanotte, in the biography dedicated to the artist in 1836, in addition to reiterating the dryness of the drawing which has by now become a tòpos of critical literature on the painting, indulged his own lyrical inspiration to the point of stating that "this painting as a whole recalls those morning dawns of unusual liveliness that announce a very clear and beautiful sunrise”; he then gives an account, first among the Italians, of the discovery of Rumohr, which he fully accepts: "It should be noted that in one of the figures which form the procession of the Magi the painter liked to portray himself, as seen with similar facial features to those of the portrait in the Sala del Cambio; and so we are fortunate to also have a faithful image of Vannucci, as he was in his youth”. In 1863, following the post-unification suppressions, the Adoration of the Magi became part of the Vannucci Civic Art Gallery (transferred to its current location in Palazzo dei Priori in 1879 and then became the National Gallery of Umbria in 1918). However, the panel did not find peace in the new and definitive location because, starting from then, a debate on authorship began which led scholars such as Cavalcaselle and Berenson (later changed their mind) to attribute it to Fiorenzo di Lorenzo; over the decades there have been other attempts, at least until the restoration completed in 1994, to suggest different hands to replace or to assist Pietro in the enterprise. Even the dating has undergone considerable shifts between the end of the sixties and that of the following decade, although the chronology proposed here seems to enjoy the vast majority of consensus.

The mayor of Milan presented the exhibition Giuseppe Sala to the presence di Andrea Romizi, Mayor di Perugia. At the press conference, Romizi characterized Perugino as an “entrepreneur painter,” an opinion the curator seconded. “Andrea Romizi was right. Perugino took from everyone and was very curious. He stole with his eyes” Pierini said later.

Just to remember, last year, again on the occasion of the Christmas exhibition, 100.00 visitors crowded the Sala Alessi at Palazzo Marino to see Holy Conversation by Titian.

Perhaps Mayor Sala finally summed up the power of this work of art: “The gaze of those Magi, seekers of novelty, is an invitation to courage, to trust in man, in his ability to turn the destinies of the world to the best.”