The Villa Bassi Rathgeb Museum dedicates an exhibition to Andrea Previtali, one of the leading figures of the early Venetian Renaissance, trained in the lagoon with Giovanni Bellini and active between Venice and Bergamo.
The heart of the exhibition is the relationship between the artist and the practice of the Renaissance workshop, explored through a path that puts Previtali's works in dialogue with those of other painters active between Venice, Bergamo, and Brescia, including Francesco Bissolo, Girolamo da Santacroce, Palma il Vecchio, and Giovanni Busi known as Cariani.
An illustrious guest of the exhibition will be the Santa Giustina by Giovanni Bellini, an extraordinary loan from the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan, a direct testimony of the Venetian master. Although older than the years of Andrea Previtali's training, the panel exemplifies the type of Bellinian invention from which similar solutions of the pupil descend. The refined rendering of colors, light, and the precious details of the attire captures all the sensitivity of the young Bellini, which is destined to influence artists of subsequent generations, including Andrea Previtali.
The project arises in close relation to the Bassi Rathgeb collection, donated to the Municipality of Abano Terme between 1972 and 1980, which preserves important works from the Brescia and Bergamo schools, including a panel by Previtali depicting a saint bishop. The scholar and collector Roberto Bassi Rathgeb dedicated numerous studies to the artist, significantly contributing to his critical rediscovery.
Of exceptional importance will be the reunion of the panel in the Bassi Rathgeb collection with the remaining two shutters of an original triptych from the Church of the Annunziata in Serina (Bergamo), dating around 1515. Thanks to the collaboration with the Diocese of Bergamo, the exhibition will gather the three panels, offering the public the rare opportunity to reinterpret the work in its entirety.
Alongside sacred production, the exhibition also dedicates space to Renaissance portraiture, with works such as the Portrait of the Accademia dei Concordi of Rovigo, expanding the view on the different facets of Previtali's painting.
The exhibition pathway will be enriched by a focus dedicated to the artistic techniques of Renaissance workshops, with physical and digital materials designed to accompany the public in discovering the processes of creating the works.
Visiting hours: from Wednesday to Sunday 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Tickets: full €10.00, reduced €8.00.
