In San Giovanni Valdarno, Masaccio and Beato Angelico compared in an exhibition of the Uffizi Diffusi

After the important exhibition in Reggello for the six hundredth anniversary of the Triptych of St. Juvenal, another review delves into the figure of Masaccio (San Giovanni Valdarno, 1401 - Rome, 1428), in the town that gave him birth, Castel San Giovanni, today San Giovanni Valdarno, in dialogue with another Renaissance protagonist, Beato Angelico (c. 1395-1455). From September 17, 2022 to January 15, 2023, the exhibition Masaccio and Angelico. Dialogue on Truth in Painting, set up in two locations: at the Museo delle Terre Nuove and at the Museum of the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The exhibition is part of Terre degli Uffizi, a project of the Uffizi Galleries and Fondazione CR Firenze, within their respective projects Uffizi Diffusi and Piccoli Grandi Musei. Promoted by the Municipality of San Giovanni Valdarno and curated by Michela Martini, Daniela Parenti, Carl Brandon Strehlke and Valentina Zucchi, the Valdarno exhibition presents a selection of works that allow visitors to delve into the innovations that Masaccio and Angelico offered to the history of art, putting them in relation with other artists close to them and enhancing their connection with the city and the territory.

On display at the Museo delle Terre Nuove is a selection of works centered on the figure of Masaccio, related to the iconography of the Madonna and Child. These are two masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries: the so-called Casini Madonna, a small panel painted by Masaccio for the Sienese clergyman Antonio Casini that depicts Mary with the baby in swaddling clothes to whom she tenderly tickles, and Masolino’s Madonna of Humility, which shows Mary intent on suckling the baby Jesus, based on the iconography of the Madonna of Milk. In comparison, the public will find the work of Masaccio’s brother Giovanni di ser Giovanni, known as Lo Scheggia, as well as the Madonna and Child from the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti. These works are accompanied by an in-depth look at the figures of Mariotto di Cristofano, Masaccio’s brother-in-law, and Andrea di Giusto Manzini, his collaborator and at the same time sensitive to Angelico’s taste.

The exhibition section at the Museum of the Basilica is dedicated to Angelico, where works by the artist from public and private property are located, with a special focus on the theme of theAnnunciation. Here they will encounter Beato Angelico’sAnnunciation, the museum’s masterpiece, set against the Tabernacle of St. Mark, a reliquary from Santa Maria Novella and commissioned to the painter by Dominican and sacristan Giovanni Masi, on loan from the Museum of St. Mark in Florence. With these works, the artist now reveals full adherence to Renaissance novelties, depicting the mystery of the incarnation through real, physical figures, clothing and gestures. Entirely human is the crossing of glances between the divine messenger and Mary, caught in the most earthly moment of welcoming the angel’s announcement into her womb, protecting him maternally with her hands.

Also by the friar painter is the preparatory drawing from the Drawings and Prints Cabinet of the Uffizi Galleries, which shows St. Jerome penitent, dressed as a hermit, as he beats his bare chest with a stone and turns his moved gaze probably toward the Crucifix, not depicted. The saint was much loved by Angelico, who appreciated his authenticity of life and faith, great classical culture, philological passion and asceticism. “Dialogue” therefore wants to be the key word of this valuable exhibition, which offers the opportunity to admire refined masterpieces, to observe their mutual influences and to reflect on the highest and deepest components of artistic representation, in constant tension toward truth.

“In this 2022,” says Uffizi director Eike Schmidt, “interest in the early Tuscan Renaissance, glorified and studied in so many initiatives, including the Terre degli Uffizi project, has flourished again. Under this aegis opens the San Giovanni Valdarno exhibition, entitled ’Masaccio and Angelico. Dialogue on Truth in Painting.’ The common thread is the relationship with the territory and in particular the local community, which was Masaccio’s birthplace. The exhibition itinerary offers a selection of works from the early 15th century, linked to the Valdarno territory by destination (Annunciation by Beato Angelico, predella by Andrea di Giusto) or the origin of the authors (Masaccio, Mariotto di Cristofano, lo Scheggia, perhaps Masolino), reconstructing an ideal panorama of Florentine art at the dawn of the Renaissance. From the Uffizi come absolute masterpieces: above all, one recalls Masaccio’s moving Madonna del solletico.”

“Yet another highly stimulating and unprecedented confrontation between two giants of our early Renaissance and, at the same time, a new opportunity to enhance an area and its treasures that are less known to the general public, as is in the spirit of the project,” stresses Luigi Salvadori, president of Fondazione CR Firenze. "In fact, these events offer not only the knowledge of works of dazzling beauty, but are an opportunity to get in touch with environments, landscapes, and suggestions that are among the new peculiarities of post-covid tourism. By now, experiential travel, as indicated by the most qualified operators, is the trend of the moment and Tuscany is the undisputed queen for this type of offer.Terre degli Uffizi perfectly intercepts this new trend that has greatly increased the attendance in the venues involved in the first cycle and is having the same multiplier effect in the first exhibitions of the second edition."

“For the City of San Giovanni Valdarno,” says Mayor Valentina Vada, “it is an honor and a privilege to be part of Terre degli Uffizi because finally, after twenty years, we are able to bring Masaccio back to his native land (after the last exhibition dedicated to him in 2001, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of his birth, Masaccio and the Origins of the Renaissance) in an exhibition organized in collaboration with Le Gallerie degli Uffizi and Fondazione CR Firenze, with the support of the Region of Tuscany. And why certainly the exhibition ”Masaccio and Angelico. Dialogue on Truth in Painting,“ as we hope, will attract visitors and tourists constituting an important tool of enhancement and promotion for our municipality and the entire Valdarno, as well as an opportunity for the economic operators of the area. I am convinced that the great effort made by the Municipality of San Giovanni Valdarno will be rewarded and will serve to make known a city that is a small jewel in the heart of Tuscany and that has the ambition to stand alongside, with its characteristics and peculiarities, the best-known and largest cities in the Region. The link between San Giovanni Valdarno and the Uffizi Galleries will not end with the exhibition on Masaccio and Angelico but will continue, as early as next spring, with a project of long-term loans of works that will be housed in the Museo delle Terre Nuove.”

Pictured is Beato Angelico’sAnnunciation . Photo by Antonio Mulas and Stefano Casati

In San Giovanni Valdarno, Masaccio and Beato Angelico compared in an exhibition of the Uffizi Diffusi

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