From Saturday 6th April to Sunday 28th July 2024, in conjunction with the exhibition Guercino. Il mestiere del pittore, organised by CoopCulture with Villaggio Globale International, and curated by Annamaria Bava and Gelsomina Spione (23 March – 28 July 2024, Musei Reali – Sala Chiablese, Turin), a painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (Cento, Ferrara, 1591 – Bologna, 1666) will be on display in the Rectangular Room of Villa Cerruti. The work, now part of the Cerruti Collection, was for a long time the property of Andreina Cerruti (Turin, 1923-2022), sister of Francesco Federico and first President of the Fondazione Francesco Federico Cerruti per l’Arte.

The painting portrays St Andrew as an elderly man with a beard and flowing hair, whose gaze, veiled with sadness, is fixed on an undetermined point outside the frame. The old man is effortlessly holding an X-shaped cross, the instrument of his martyrdom and customary iconographic attribute. The small size and contemplative mood suggest that the work was perhaps used for private worship. The textured finish and soft brushstrokes, characterised by nuanced chiaroscuro place the work in the fifth decade of the 17th century. A period that coincides with the painter’s move from his native Cento to Bologna, where he also transferred his flourishing workshop.

On the occasion of the display of the painting in the Villa in Rivoli, on Friday 10th May 2024, from 6.00 to 7.30 pm, the first lecture of Live Collection will take place. Live Collection is a new series of appointments at the Cerruti Collection, featuring in-depth studies and lecture-concerts. Annamaria Bava (Musei Reali, Turin) and Gelsomina Spione (University of Turin), curators of the exhibition dedicated to Guercino at the Musei Reali in Turin, will guide the public to discover the history, production and legacy of the 17th-century Emilian painter, also retracing the salient stages and ideas that led to the realisation of the rich and important exhibition event.

The conference will be accompanied by a piano performance by the duo Audisio. The musical program is drafted by Mario Calisi.

Annamaria Bava

Director, Galleria Sabauda – Musei Reali, Turin. She holds the role of Head of the Art Collections and Archeology Area. She has published numerous essays, in particular on art and collecting between the 16th and 18th centuries, and has curated several exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

Gelsomina Spione

rofessor of History of Modern Art, University of Turin. She has mainly dealt with the Piedmontese and Ligurian figurative culture of the 17th and 18th centuries. She recently published the volume Il Barocco a Genova «un misto di più maniere» (Rome 2023).

Duo Audisio

The duo (Edoardo and Giacomo Audisio) was born from the fraternal pleasure of sharing the piano keyboard aimed at researching and disseminating both ancient and contemporary music. Edoardo and Giacomo Audisio, winners of the Sestri Levante Bach Prize in 2023, carry out both solo and chamber music activities.

Info

*For a maximum of 20 participants.
It is necessary to book and purchase the ticket here.
Tickets cost € 10.00 and may only be purchased online.
The shuttle bus to the Cerruti Collection leaves at 5.55 p.m. from the square in front of the Castello di Rivoli.

For ticket holders of the exhibition Guercino. Il mestiere del pittore, the partners Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and Collezione Cerruti offer a reduced rate of € 19.50 instead of € 26.50 for access to Villa Cerruti and Castello di Rivoli.