Paolo Veronese: A Master and His Workshop in Renaissance Venice

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, presents a major exhibition of the work of Paolo Veronese (1528–1588), a master of Venetian Renaissance painting.

The first comprehensive exhibition of Veronese’s work in North America in over two decades, Paolo Veronese: A Master and His Workshop in Renaissance Venice brings together more than 50 of the artist’s finest paintings and drawings from North American museums and private collections. Presenting imposing altarpieces and smaller religious paintings for private

devotion or collectors, striking portraits, depictions of sensual narratives drawn from the classical tradition, and majestic allegories glorifying the Venetian state, the exhibition will introduce the range of Veronese’s art, in which the opulence and splendor of Renaissance Venice comes to life.

Veronese was also a highly accomplished draughtsman, and this exhibition will provide audiences a rare glimpse into his work on paper, from gestural sketches to highly-finished chiaroscuro sheets. The Ringling will be the sole venue for Paolo Veronese, which will be on view from through April 14, 2013 in the Museum’s Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing.

One of the exhibition’s highlights is the Ringling’s own work, Rest on the Flight into Egypt (ca. 1572),one of only two complete Veronese altarpieces in North America and the first Old Master painting acquired in 1925 by the Museum’s founder, John Ringling. The exhibition features two other works from the Ringling’s collection: Portrait of Francesco Franceschini (1551), the artist’s first known surviving, full-standing portrait, painted when Veronese was just 23 years old, and a painting John Ringling bought as a Veronese, A Family Group(ca. 1565), now understood to be the work of his talented pupil Giovanni Antonio Fasolo.


 

Unearthing a Masterpiece: A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel

A large and exceptionally well-preserved ancient Roman floor mosaic, discovered in Lod, Israel, in 1996, and excavated in 2009, makes its final United States stop at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia before traveling to the Louvre in Paris and eventually, to a new museum being built just for it in Israel.

The exhibition opening begins on February 10, 2013, at 1:00 pm Sunday with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Joining Julian Siggers, Penn Museum Williams Director, are Yaron Sideman, Consul General of Israel to the Mid-Atlantic Region; Renato Miracco, Cultural Attaché, Italian Embassy, and Luigi Scotto, Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia. C. Brian Rose, Mediterranean Section Curator-in-Charge and content expert for the exhibition, and Kate Quinn, Exhibition Director, participate.

Dating to 300 CE, the “Lod Mosaic” is one of the most complete, well-preserved, and largest Roman mosaics ever found. It was likely commissioned by a high-standing Roman official for his private home. Alluding to gladiatorial games, the mosaic panels depict scenes of hunting, trading, and marine life; but the lack of human figures on any of the panels makes the Lod Mosaic very unusual. This exhibition presents the unique history and fascinating excavation of this impressive ancient Roman mosaic.

More details about the discovery, history, and conservation of the mosaic can be found here: http://www.lodmosaic.org/

 

Jim Messina, President Obama’s campaign manager, Receives the Machiavelli Award as the Italian Democrat of the Year

This evening, the Italian American Democratic Leadership Council, co-chaired by Robert Blancato and MD Senator Jim Rosapepe, presented Jim Messina, President Obama’s campaign manager,with

Jim Messina

Jim Messina

the Machiavelli Award as the Italian Democrat of the Year.  The reception was held this evening a Carmine’s Restaurant in Washington , D.C.  According to the IALC, this award honors the legacy of Niccolo Machiavelli, the first political scientist, and showcases a current political mastermind.

In accepting the award Messina said that he had just returned from a month-long vacation from Italy (“I highly recommend it” he said), with his girlfriend  now fiancee  and that while visiting Florence he was invited to the mayor’s office and shown the desk that Machiavelli had used.

Speaking at the event was also Lapo Pistelli, a member of Parliament and the foreign policy spokesman for Italy’s Partito Democratico (PD) who  had lavish praises for Messina, saying to him at one point:  “You saved the world.”

Pistelli  noted to the guests that  “We have a crazy system in Italy, a crazy electoral law . . . not an easy system to understand,” that is why, he said, he could be in Washington thirty days before Italy’s national elections, because under Italy’s political system he had been already assured reelection.

Italian American Community Mourns Passing of Joseph Coccia, Jr.

The Montclair State University community mourns the passing on January 3, 2013, of Cav. Joseph Coccia, Jr., a loyal friend and founder of the University’s Joseph and Elda Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America.

Joseph Coccia, Jr.

Joseph Coccia, Jr.

Coccia dedicated his life to preserving Italian American culture and heritage, and through the Institute and Coccia Foundation, he educated young people about Italian language, life, food, business and history. The Coccia Institute at Montclair State partners with national and state organizations to promote an understanding of the important links between Italy and America and to advance an interest in Italian and Italian American fields of study, both among scholars and the general public.  Read more…

 

Joseph Coccia Jr. wanted everyone to love Italy’s rich history and culture as much as he did. “He wanted to show people it’s not all about the negative. It’s not all about the Mafia and tough guys. … He wanted to promote all the positive things,” said Coccia’s daughter, Elisa.  Read more . . .