Caravaggio masterpiece will remain on display
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| The Accademia Carrara reopened its doors to visitors from today, 22 May, following the lockdown. |
The prestigious art gallery, which lies just outside the Città Alta, finally opened its doors to visitors again today, following the Covid-19 outbreak.
You can book your access to the museum on line at prenotazioni@lacararra.it or by ringing +39 328 1721727.
A pleasant surprise for art enthusiasts will be that Caravaggio’s famous
painting of The Musicians, which was on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York before the Carrara had to close, will remain at the gallery
until the end of the summer.
The Metropolitan Museum’s offer to extend the loan of the painting to
Bergamo has been described by the Carrara as an ‘extraordinary act of
generosity’ and a demonstration of the solidarity that unites Bergamo and New
York, ‘two cities that are being sorely tested by the current health crisis.
’
Baroque artist Caravaggio painted the three young men playing musical
instruments, with a fourth dressed as Cupid, while he was still a young man. He
was living in the household of his patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte.
One member of the group is thought to be a self portrait of the artist.
Caravaggio, whose real name was Michelangelo Merisi, spent the early
years of his life living in the small town of Caravaggio just south of Bergamo.
It is believed his family moved there because of an outbreak of plague in Milan
after his birth in 1571.
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| Caravaggio's painting, The Musicians, painted in about 1595, is on loan at the Carrara from The Met in New York |
The town of Caravaggio is well worth visiting to see the Sanctuary of
the Madonna di Caravaggio, which was built in the 16th century on the spot
where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a local peasant woman. The
Sanctuary was rebuilt in the 18th century and is now a grand building visited
by pilgrims from all over the world.
Bergamo airport at Orio al Serio changed its name to the Caravaggio
International Airport Bergamo - Orio al Serio in 2011.
The Accademia Carrara is one of the biggest jewels in Bergamo’s crown.
The art gallery is housed in a magnificent palace, built in the 18th century to
house one of the richest private collections of art in Italy.
It is the only Italian museum to be entirely stocked with donations and
bequests from private collectors. Visitors can view a broad-ranging collection
of works by the masters of the Venetian, Lombard and Tuscan renaissances as
well as great artists who came later.
The Carrara was established in 1794 as a combined Pinacoteca and School
of Painting on the initiative of Bergamo aristocrat Count Giacomo Carrara. In
addition to his collection of paintings he left his entire estate to the
Accademia to secure its future.
The number and quality of the works in the Accademia has increased over
the years thanks to donations and bequests from private collectors.
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