Displaying items by tag: Naples

A division of the Italian police department that specializes in art thefts has located a 400-year-old copy of a lost Leonardo da Vinci fresco. Depicting the Battle of Anghiari, the masterpiece was never finished.

The copy, widely known as the Tavola Doria, once adorned a wall of Florence’s city hall, the Palazzo Vecchio, and illustrates a historic battle between Florence and Milan that took place in 1440. It is believed that da Vinci experimented with various fresco-painting techniques before he started work on the battle scene in 1503. Despite his efforts, the paints began to drip and da Vinci was never able to finish the fresco. Over the next few years, the piece deteriorated and the Italian painter, Giorgio Vasari, was commissioned to paint over what was left of the incomplete fresco.

Since the unfinished da Vinci painting no longer exists, copies of the lost artwork are extremely important to art historians and scholars. This particular copy, painted on a small wooden panel, was last seen in public 73 years ago at a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition held in Milan on the eve of World War II. After the exhibition, the work disappeared.

Experts have since determined that the panel was stolen from its owners in Naples and ended up in the hands of a Swiss art dealer. The work was sent to Germany for restoration in the 1960s, made a brief appearance in the 1970s at an art gallery in New York, and by the 1990s was the property of a wealthy Japanese art collector.

Finally back in Italy, the Tavola Doria will be on view at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery during 2013. The work will then spend four years in Japan as part of a loan agreement worked out with the Fuji Art Museum in Tokyo, where it was last exhibited.

There was plenty of excitement when the San Antonio Museum of Art’s exhibition, Aphrodite and the Gods of Love, opened on September 15. Since then, the show has turned into a source of controversy. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the exhibition features 125 statues, vases, terracotta and bronze figures, mirrors and jewelry from the MFA and seven works from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, Italy. Aphrodite is the first exhibition to focus on the art of ancient Greece in the San Antonio Museum of Art’s history.

A 2,000-year-old statuette of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, has been used in promotional material to spread the word about the rare exhibit and has left some people in shock. The San Antonio Current, San Antonio Magazine, San Antonio Jewish Journal, and San Antonio Business Journal all ran the advertisement without question. Three other publications as well as the San Antonio International Airport refused to promote the exhibition as long as a nude Aphrodite was featured in the ad.

While the controversy has some people flustered, it has brought a good amount of attention to the San Antonio Museum and the exhibition. Aphrodite will be on view through February 17, 2013.

The Palm Beach Show Group, recognized as the nation's leading producer of premiere jewelry, art and antique shows, is proud to announce the latest addition to its prestigious portfolio of shows, the Naples Art, Antique and Jewelry Show. Debuting February 9-13, 2012 at the Naples Exhibition Center in West Naples, Florida.  The place to be in February with the exceptional level of wealth and perfect weather.  The show will feature the stunning collections of more than 90 internationally acclaimed exhibitors. Guests will have access to 50,000 sq. feet of fine art, antique and estate jewelry, furniture, porcelain, Asian art, American and European silver, glass, textiles, sculpture, contemporary art and more, ranging from the antiquities to the 20th century. 
 
The Naples Art, Antique and Jewelry Show's ideal location, neighboring the posh Port Royal community - which was recently listed as the third wealthiest in the country, is projected to attract tens of thousands of attendees, including private collectors, museum curators, investors and interior designers. Guests will have the opportunity to search for treasures and purchase some of the most unique and coveted fine art, jewelry and antiques in the world. The show is also within three quarters of a mile of Fifth Avenue, Naples' world-renowned shopping, dining and entertainment district.