Exhibition
Curated by Valeria Cafà, Giuseppe Frangi and Nadia Righi
To mark Lent and Easter, the Museo Diocesano presents an exhibition centred on the Crucifixion by Hans Memling (Seligenstadt, Germany, c. 1435/1440 – Bruges 1494), datable to around 1467–1470 and on loan from the Museo Civico di Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza.
Along a route created in collaboration with Casa Testori, the exhibition places the works of Stefano Arienti, Matteo Fato, Julia Krahn and Danilo Sciorilli in dialogue with Memling’s masterpiece, inviting them to engage with the visual and spiritual power of the panel. The Crucifixion thus becomes the point of reference for the artists, called to look upon it with respect and discretion, letting themselves be inspired by compositional, chromatic and iconographic details that each reworks in a contemporary key.
At its centre, Memling’s work depicts the crucified Christ, surrounded on the left by Saint John the Evangelist, who supports the grieving Virgin, and by the Magdalene, kneeling at the foot of the cross; while on the other side appear Saint John the Baptist, holding a lamb, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, patron saint of the donor who commissioned the work, the Cistercian abbot Jan Crabbe (1426–1488), shown kneeling in the foreground of the painting.
In the background of the scene, a fairy-tale landscape of hills unfolds in a bird’s-eye view, rendered with a meticulousness typical of Flemish painting. The enamel-like, brilliant colours, the analytical rendering of the figures’ faces and the sharp, clear-cut outlines of the drapery recall the models of Rogier van der Weyden, of whom Memling was in all likelihood a pupil. The grandeur of the landscape and the pathos of the figures in the group on the left reveal the artist’s distinctive traits; as he matured, he would move towards gentler, less dramatic forms than those of his master.
The works of the artists invited to enter into dialogue with Memling’s masterpiece are marked by the use of different languages. Stefano Arienti (Asola, 1961) offers a reflection on the theme of the Crucifix, the visual and symbolic axis of Memling’s work. Matteo Fato (Pescara, 1979) presents a painting on canvas, conceived as part of an installation in which the easel built by the artist is an integral element. Julia Krahn (Jülich, 1978) will offer, through a photographic diptych, an identification with the figure of Mary at the foot of the cross. Danilo Sciorilli (Atessa, 1992) is working on a triptych of videos, focusing on images from a performance carried out in his home town.
