Federico Barocci Urbino. L’emozione della pittura moderna

The Barocci retrospective currently taking place in Urbino, the artist’s birthplace where he spent most of his career, is curiously the first to be held there, but not the first to be devoted to him. Recently, just over ten years ago, we had the chance to see and review the exhibition presented by the National Gallery in London. We refer those who would like to know a little more about his life and art to this article, and here we will concentrate on going through the exhibition room by room to highlight the most remarkable works on display.
The exhibition contains more than twice as many paintings as the London show, which is logical since many of those that could not be moved there are kept in Urbino. In addition to the many sheets by the artist who was one of the greatest draughtsmen of all time, there are other paintings still in the churches and those still hanging on the walls of the Galleria. There is no doubt that this is the only opportunity for a long time to see so many works by this artist brought together.

1. View of the Barocci retrospective at the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

The only criticism we could make of this retrospective, whose display and catalogue are remarkable in every way, is its lighting (ill. 1), which follows the fashion now widespread in Italy for exhibitions plunged into darkness where the light focuses only on the paintings, making the labels difficult to read and the works often unevenly lit, sometimes too much, sometimes not enough, even if the eye eventually gets used to it.
This inconvenience is particularly noticeable in the two rooms devoted to portraits, no doubt because they are the first and it takes time for the eye to adapt, but also because these paintings are often dark, which makes the subtleties of the range harder to discern.

2. Federico Barocci (1535-1612)
Portrait of Giuliano della Rovere, c. 1595
Oil on canvas -…