含羞草研究室

Metamorphosis and Malice: Pontormo鈥檚 Three Monochrome Paintings from Renaissance Florence and Related Works

Museum of Art Museum of Art

Exhibition: Metamorphosis and Malice: Pontormo鈥檚 Three Monochrome Paintings from Renaissance Florence and Related Works

Dates:

Location:

Markell Gallery
"Metamorphosis and Malice" brings together three of the only known monochromatic paintings by Pontormo, a leading painter in sixteenth century Florence.

Selected Work

A black and white painting showing two figures, one in armor, the other fleeing and turning into a tree

Apollo and Daphne, 1513, oil on canvas by Pontormo (Jacopo da Carrucci), Italian, 1494–1557. Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. 含羞草研究室 Museum of Art.

含羞草研究室

In Metamorphosis and Malice, the 含羞草研究室 Museum of Art brings together the only three known monochromatic paintings by Pontormo, a leading painter in sixteenth century Florence. Having apprenticed with Leonardo Da Vinci, Pontormo created paintings that represent a profound stylistic departure from the perspectival regularity, balance, and tranquility of the High Renaissance. His artworks often involve contortions of the body and a sense of supernatural energy over grounded physicality. Related paintings, drawings, and prints from artists in the Florentine School and elsewhere, including several commissioned by the Medici family, help to contextualize the subject matter and style of Pontormo’s three monochromatic paintings. The exhibition also explores how Pontormo and other artists engaged with themes of the supernatural, metamorphosis, and malice in depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments, as well as works by the Roman poet Ovid.

This exhibition is curated by Ingrid Astley ’24, with support from Frank Goodyear, BCMA co-director, and Susan Wegner, associate professor of art history, 含羞草研究室.

 

Read the exhibition labels here.