Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Scheduled with free admission from 29 November 2019 to 12 January 2020

Milan, 28 November 2019 - The Christmas appointment with art is renewed again this year: the doors of Palazzo Marino they open from 29 November 2019 to 12 January 2020 to allow the Milanese and increasingly numerous tourists to admire a great masterpiece by Filippino Lippi, an Annunciation that the Tuscan master painted in two large tondos: one depicting "The Announcing Angel", the other “The Annunciation”.

"This year the theme of Christmas is celebrated with an extraordinary work, coming from the civic collections of San Gimignano, which we thank for wanting to share with our city a masterpiece that has belonged to it for over five centuries - declares the Councilor for Culture Filippo Del Corno - Once again, the Municipalities participate in the Christmas celebrations by proposing an art initiative that follows the same model of Palazzo Marino, that is, with the exhibition, again free of charge, of two other important works from the Milanese civic collections and, in particular, from the Sforzesco Castle".

“This year too, Intesa Sanpaolo is alongside the Municipality of Milan in an initiative that promotes the beauty and value of the art treasures of the Italian heritage, in full harmony with the Bank's Culture Project. Working in synergy means enriching and strengthening the cultural offering, as demonstrated by the evocative dialogue in Piazza della Scala between two exhibitions celebrating extraordinary artists, Filippino Lippi a Palazzo Marino, Canova and Thorvaldsen in our Galleries of Italy. Even during the Christmas period, Milan thus confirms its vocation to increasingly be a great city of art", underlines Michele Coppola, Executive Director of Art, Culture and Historical Heritage.

“The history of Rinascente is inextricably linked with the cities in which it is present and for this reason we invest more and more energy in their valorisation. The Department store is an important presence in the area: it is a symbol, a reference, a square where surprising things happen. This is why it takes energy and care to dedicate to its interior but also attention and sensitivity to intercept what surrounds it. This traditional and much-loved Christmas event is a source of pride for us" states Pierluigi Cocchini, CEO of Rinascente 

Owner of the work exhibited at Palazzo Marino it has always been the Municipality of San Gimignano, which commissioned it in 1482 precisely to decorate the Town Hall. A secular commission, from the Priors and Captains of the Guelph Party, of which the municipal historical archive preserves complete documentation.

Even though the power that the city had expressed in the fourteenth century was now long gone, San Gimignano remained an important centre, frequented by Benozzo Gozzoli and Pinturicchio, Benedetto da Maiano and Antonio del Pollaiolo, Ghirlandaio and Pier Francesco Fiorentino. A panel by the latter artist will be restored on this occasion, thanks to the collaboration between the two administrations.

Conserved in the civic art gallery of San Gimignano, the two large tondos were created between 1483 and 1484, when Filippino, a pupil of Sandro Botticelli, was 26 years old and was already busy with important commissions including the Brancacci Chapel in Florence. Six years later, in 1490, the Priors and Captains of San Gimignano wanted to equip the paintings with two precious frames, carved, painted and gilded, made by an anonymous craftsman, perhaps local.

The subject of the Annunciation was very important for the city of San Gimignano, where, as in Florence, the celebration of the Santissima Annunziata, on March 25, represented the first day of the year according to the Florentine calendar.
The exhibition is curated by Alessandro Cecchi, one of the major scholars of Tuscan art between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and will be presented in the Sala Alessi of Palazzo Marino with a dedicated setup, a large didactic apparatus and the projection of a video.

The tondo with the Announcing Angel presents the Angel kneeling on a floor in central perspective, while the tondo with the Annunciation appears more airy and bright thanks to the diagonally reflected light. The carved, painted, gilded and silvered wooden frames were probably made six years later by Antonio da Colle, active in San Gimignano in the second half of the fifteenth century.

“It is an honor to be able to send as ambassadors of our city the tondi by Filippino Lippi commissioned by the city of San Gimignano in 1482 and preserved in our art gallery. We are bound by a relationship of esteem with the city of Milan and the desire to intensify dialogue and collaboration between entities in our country of Italy. If we look at our history we still find precious connections with the city of Milan: the architect Piero Bottoni who in the 50s drew up our master plan for San Gimignano, protecting and enhancing our historic center with its towers. Last but not least, saffron, the spice that we have grown since the Middle Ages, still today a precious PDO of San Gimignano, and a renowned ingredient of Milanese cuisine", states Carolina Taddei, Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of San Gimignano.

This year, too, the Municipality of Milan's desire to enhance the cultural heritage widespread in the centers of a "minor Italy" which is in reality a treasure chest of extraordinary and never sufficiently known treasures is confirmed. A path that so far has given prominence to cities such as Fermo, Sansepolcro, Ancona and Perugia which preserve works by great masters such as Rubens, Piero della Francesca, Titian and Perugino.

Sponsored by MiBACT - Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, promoted by the Municipality of Milan and Intesa Sanpaolo (institutional partner), with the support of Rinascente, the exhibition is coordinated by Palazzo Reale and created together with the Pinacoteca Civica di San Gimignano, with the support of the Municipality of San Gimignano, in collaboration with the Gallerie d'Italia in Piazza della Scala. The organization is entrusted to Civita.

They join the Christmas initiative of Palazzo Marino also Municipalities 2, 3, 7 and 8 of the Municipality of Milan, with a double gift to the community, for the widest knowledge of the city's cultural heritage.
From November 30th to January 12th it will be possible to admire two important works from the civic collections of the Sforzesco Castle: "The Adoration of the Shepherds" workshop of Paolo Caliari known as Veronese, which can be admired first at Villa Scheibler (Town Hall 8) from the 30th November to 18 December, and then at the Newspaper Library in via Cimarosa (Town Hall 7) from 21 December to 12 January; and “The Annunciation” by Panfilo Nuvolone, which will be staged first at Cascina Turro (Town Hall 2) from 30 November to 18 December and then at the Cerri Auditorium (Town Hall 3), from 21 December to 12 January.
 
“The Adoration of the Shepherds” by Paolo Caliari known as Veronese, shows the moment in which the shepherds, warned by the angels, go to pay homage to the little Jesus, just born in a hut leaning against a more monumental building: the presence of the ox and the donkey. This type of composition is in line with what the Venetian master developed in the late phase of his activity: the structure of the painting is enlarged and the figures are immersed in more marked areas of shadow, as can also be seen in the preserved Adoration of the Shepherds in the collections of Prague Castle. The structure of the background is simplified compared to the more typical paintings by Veronese, however critics believe that a direct intervention by him is conceivable.

“The Annunciation” by Panfilo Nuvolone is a clear example of the Lombard school of painting. For a long time it was ascribed to Camillo or Giulio Cesare Procaccini, but today it finds its point of reference in the late and less known phase of Panfilo Nuvolone, whose last work, the altarpiece of San Giuseppe for the Grumello oratory, signed and dated , constitutes a point of reference for this Annunciation, as shown by the affinities with the angelic figures and the impalpable veils of white with which the bouquet of lilies is rendered. Nuvolone's celebrated experience as a still life painter is evident in the representation of flowers.

The initiatives are promoted by the Municipality of Milan, Municipalities 2, 3, 7 and 8, coordinated by Palazzo Reale, and carried out together with the Civic Art Gallery of the Sforzesco Castle with the organization of Civita.
 
INFORMATION
 
Period
November 29 2019 - 12 2020 January
 
Work location:
Milan, Palazzo Marino, Alessi Room
Piazza della Scala 2
Free admission

Opening hours to the public
Every day from 9: 30 to 20: 00
(last entry at 19pm)
Thursday from 9: 30 to 22: 30
(last entry at 22pm)
 
Early closings                   
7 December closing at 12 (last entry at 00)
24 and 31 December 2019 closing at 18pm
(last entry at 17pm)
 
Festivity                                      
8, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January open from 9am to 30pm (last entry at 20pm)

Tel. 800.167.619
www.comune.milano.it
mostre@civita.it
(Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00, Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00)
Reservations possible only for schools
 
Information sheet on municipal initiatives 2,3,7,8

Work location: Town Hall 2
Milan, Cascina Turro
Provisional Government Square, 9
November 30 - December 18
Free admission
Opening hours to the public
Monday to Friday from 12: 00 to 18: 00
Saturday and Sunday from 10: 00 to 18: 00

Work location: Town Hall 3
Milan, Auditorium Cerri
Via Valvassori Peroni, 56
21 December – 12 January 2020
Free admission
Opening hours to the public
22, 23 and 24 December from 10am to 18pm
28, 29, 30 and 31 December from 10:00 to 20:00
January 1st from 14pm to 00pm
3, 4 and 5 January from 10:00 to 18:00
6 January from 10: 00 to 23: 00
7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 January from 10:00 to 18:00
12 January from 10: 00 to 21: 00
EXHIBITION CLOSED: 25, 26, 27 December, 2 January

Work location: Town Hall 8
Milan, Villa Scheibler
Via Felice Orsini, 21
November 30 - December 18
Free admission
Opening hours to the public
Every day from 10: 00 to 18: 00

Work location: Town Hall 7
Milan, Newspaper Library
Via Cimarosa 1
21 December - 12 January
Free admission
Opening hours to the public
Every day from 10: 00 to 18: 00