555 years after its creation, the Augustan Polyptych, masterpiece by Piero della Francesca (1412-1492) is presented for the first time in history at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan.
It was 1469 when Piero della Francesca finished painting his magnificent polyptych for the high altar of the Augustinian church in Borgo San Sepolcro (Arezzo), begun in 1454. The altarpiece, among Piero della Francesca’s most demanding works, was dismembered and dispersed by the end of the 16th century. Today what remains of the Augustinian polyptych, i.e. eight panels (the central panel and a large part of the predella have not yet been traced), can be found in museums in Europe and the United States, as well as at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, owner of the panel depicting Saint Nicola da Tolentino, one of the four saints who belonged to the central part of the polyptych.
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Gian Giacomo Attolico Trivulzio, president of the Poldi Pezzoli Artistic Foundation, intervened explaining the origins of the project: «It all started within six months, from when our director Alessandra Quarto took office, first obtaining the authorization of the Frick Collection of New York to leave us the four predeles (St. John the Evangelist, the Crucifixion, Santa Monica and San Leonardo) and then obtaining authorization from the directors of the other three museums in Lisbon, Washington and London, managing to bring together these eight predeles in just six months – explains the president of the Poldi Pezzoli Artistic Foundation – Another 22 are missing, as the polyptych originally included 30 predeles, but so far they have not been found. So this will be a project intended for art historians as there are particularities that emerge from the x-rays, which will be the subject of study for art historians and we will also combine study days on the origins of these masterpieces.”
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The exhibition, conceived by Alessandra Quarto, director of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, is curated by Machtelt Brüggen Israëls (Rijksmuseum and University of Amsterdam) and Nathaniel Silver (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston), scholars of international standing and the last to propose the reconstruction of the polyptych in 2013 at the Frick Collection in New York based on the investigations conducted so far. The organization of the exhibition is curated by Lavinia Galli, curator, and Federica Manoli, collection manager, of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, with the coordination of Arianna Pace, of the exhibitions office.
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The director of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum spoke, in fact, of the great collaboration and teamwork behind such an important project: «It is truly an extraordinary job, because it involved the lending museums, who believed in the scientific project and approved the loans, despite the timing, because it is all linked to the temporary closure of the Frick Collection, so we have started a great adventure thanks to this extraordinary collaboration of the museums, but also thanks to the collaboration with the Bicocca University and with the Bracco Foundation for diagnostic analysis, which was truly important, first of all because the discoveries that were made thanks to this investigation led to new information on the history of the polyptych. Then, like any scientific research, the work is multidisciplinary, so we had the opportunity to work with scientists, restorers, curators and it was a team that operated in a very harmonious and synergistic way, managing to overcome such a challenging goal as an exhibition so important”.
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Machtelt Brüggen Israëls, curator of the exhibition, finally explains the uniqueness of the exhibition and future projects: «It is a miracle exhibition because it brings together the only surviving fragments of a large polyptych by Piero della Francesca, for the first time after several 450 years old. This in itself is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a great research opportunity because we were able to carry out diagnostic investigations, which allowed us to reveal quite a few mysteries that still existed around this polyptych. We have made a video which also presents to the public the investigations we have carried out and which allow us to understand Piero della Francesca’s technique and way of working.
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Furthermore, there will be a route inside the museum which also shows the objects painted by Piero della Francesca to understand how realistic he was and how much he had developed a painting aimed at being able to render the beautiful effects of jewels, pearls, but also angelic weapons , of gold brocades, as well as there will also be a study day: we have involved many colleagues and we will carry out the diagnostic investigations on the panels starting with a study day at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum on 7 May, which will then be presented and published and the museum has organized events for schools and the general public, with visits to this exhibition.”