Fondazione Roma Museo, Palazzo Sciarra
cured by Maria Grazia Bernardini e Marco Bussagli

After the success of the major exhibition dedicated to fifteenth century Rome, the Fondazione Roma offers a fascinating retrospective on Rome in the sixteenth century. For the first time, the exhibition The Renaissance in Rome. The Inspiration of Michelangelo and Raffaello explores and analyses the artistic, architectural and urbanistic aspects of sixteenth century Rome. Promoted by Fondazione Roma, the exhibition has been organised by Fondazione Roma-Arte-Musei with Arthemisia Group, and will be staged in the Fondazione Roma Museum, Palazzo Sciarra, from 25 October 2011 to 12 February 2012.
The exhibition The Renaissance in Rome. The Inspiration of Michelangelo and Raffaello should be viewed as a continuation of the event dedicated to the city's reawakening in the fifteenth century, entitled The Fifteenth Century in Rome. The Rebirth of the Arts from Donatello to Perugino, conceived by the President of the Fondazione Roma Emmanuele F.M. Emanuele in 2008, curated by Marco Bussagli and Claudio Strinati, and coordinated by Maria Grazia Bernardini.
Curated by Maria Grazia Bernardini and Marco Bussagli, this exhibition, for the first time, will illustrate Roman art in the sixteenth century, from the High Renaissance to the Rome of the Popes Julius II and Leo X and the preeminent artists Michelangelo and Raffaello, to the art of the subsequent decades. This developed under the influence of the two great masters - borne up by the culture of humanism, but tending towards more abstract, elegant and decorative forms - up to Michelangelo's death in 1564, when art began to be profoundly conditioned by a sweeping new religious feeling.
For the occasion the Fondazione Roma has restored a number of key works, including the Pietà from Buffalo (United States), a work which belongs in the Michelangelo context (and has actually been attributed to Michelangelo himself by various scholars). This work will be exhibited in the show after restoration work under the guidance of the Central Institute of Restoration in Rome.
The exhibition boasts the involvement of a prestigious panel of experts chaired by Vittorio Sgarbi, with Cristina Acidini, Nicole Dacos, Marzia Faietti, Marcello Fagiolo, Kristina Herrmann Fiore, Sylvia Ferino Pagden, Christoph L. Frommel, Anna Lo Bianco, Maria Luisa Madonna, Lorenza Mochi Onori, Antonio Paolucci, Silvia Danesi Squarzina, Rossella Vodret and Alessandro Zuccari.

THE EXHIBITION
The works of art in the show have been chosen to offer a picture of an era characterised by major political and religious development
throughout Europe, developments that often had a significant impact on the eternal city.
This rich historical period of the sixteenth century in Rome began with the papacy of Julius II (1503-1513), and continued to 1564, the year of Michelangelo's death, shortly after the end of the Council of Trent in 1563. This date sets a seal on one era and opens another, that of the Counter Reformation: the reaction to the protestant Reformation which heralded radical changes in the social, cultural and artistic climate throughout Europe.
The auspicious succession of popes who were also great, illustrious patrons of art, such as Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII and Paul III, and the presence of Michelangelo and Raffaello in Rome at the same time were the driving force of the century, which was one of the most productive in art history.
To illustrate the period an extraordinary nucleus of more than 180 works has been selected, with sculptures, paintings, drawings, etchings and medals from important Italian and foreign museums including not only Rome's leading museums but also the Vatican Museums, the Uffizi Gallery, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Albertina Museum in Vienna.
To introduce visitors to the evocative climate of the Renaissance in Rome the exhibition presents masterpieces by both Raffaello - like his Self Portrait and Portrait of Fedra Inghirami - and Michelangelo, such as Apollo-Davide from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, as well as numerous works by the artists'contemporaries, including Sebastiano del Piombo and Francesco Salviati.
Ancient masterpieces like the Statue of Aphrodite crouching, from Palazzo Altemps, and Dionysus and Eros from the Museo Archeologico in Naples, which belonged to the Farnese collection, forge a connection with modern works, bearing witness to how the classical period was a vital wellspring of ideas for sixteenth century art, a source of inspiration for some and emulation for others: the exhibition includes the copy of Laocoon by Pietro da Barga from the Museo del Bargello, as well as Raffaello's splendid drawing of the Pantheon, done as a study.
The historic period and concurrent artistic developments were however dealt a terrible blow by the Sack of Rome in 1527, when the city was devastated by the imperial forces of Charles V. Representing this tragic episode, the exhibition features two works by Sebastiano del Piombo − Portrait of Clement VII − showing the pope sitting at the entrance to the Vatican during the Sack. The 1526 painting shows the pope clean-shaven, while in the 1527 portrait he has grown a beard. A comparison between the two works is an eloquent expression of the deep-seated anguish that characterised this period.
The rebirth of the city after 1530 coincided with the papacy of Paul III, the pope who commissioned Michelangelo to decorate the back wall of the Sistine Chapel. The show includes a large panel by Marcello Venusti, a copy of the Last Judgement which pays tribute to the peerless fresco, one of the greatest masterpieces in art history.
The artistic ferment of the era can also be seen in the incredible architectural undertaking that was the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, and the exhibition includes wooden models that show how it was originally planned, with two bell towers. Also on show are works by Taddeo Zuccari and Federico Zuccari, Girolamo Muziano and Marcello Venusti. One strikingly innovative feature of the exhibition is the evocative 3D virtual reconstruction of the Sistine Chapel and the stunning Eros and Psyche Loggia of the Farnesina, the historic villa commissioned by Agostino Chigi in Porta Settimiana and frescoed by the Raffaello school, reproduced in the exhibition using ENEA technology.
Visitors to the exhibition will thus be able to revel in a virtual scenario of captivating frescoes that depict fascinating stories and ancient legends in the engaging atmosphere of sixteenth century Rome.

THE EXHIBITION IN SEVEN SECTIONS
SECTION 1 Rome under Julius II and Leo X
Frequently compared to the reign of Pericles, a period that has acquired an almost legendary aura in the collective imagination, the twenty years that encompassed the papacies of Julius II (1503-1513) and Leo X (1513-1521) were characterised by artistic undertakings that were to remain second to none: the mind automatically goes to the Sistine Chapel, and Villa Farnesina with Raffaello's rooms and the Loggia of Psyche.
This section documents the development and splendours of Rome with plans and designs for churches and palazzos, but also snapshots of the lighter side of city life - like the giant Naumachia nel Cortile del Belvedere − as well as the presence in Rome of great artists like Raffaello, with his Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (Naples, Museo di Capodimonte) and Michelangelo with Study for a seated male nude (Florence, Uffizi) alongside painters like Giulio Romano, Sebastiano del Piombo, Baldassarre Peruzzi, Parmigianino, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Benvenuto Tisi called il Garofano, Girolamo da Carpi and Perin del Vaga, whose Holy Family, from the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia), is featured.
SECTION 2 The Renaissance and its rapport with the classical period
Rome is all but synonymous with the classical period, something that has drawn artists, scholars and merchants in every era - from the
iddle Ages to the modern era. This section documents the three-way relationship between the city, the artists and the ideals of the Renaissance, examining the models, collections and imitations - like The Thorn-Puller by Guglielmo della Porta from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg − and works inspired by this genre, like the monumental fresco by Polidoro da Caravaggio from the Casino del Bufalo which depicts Perseus Freeing Andromeda (Rome, Museo di Roma).
SECTION THREE The Lutheran Reformation and the Sack of Rome
Out of the blue on 5 May 1527, the Eternal City was struck by a tragedy: the Sack of Rome. The attack, which shocked Europe, was a consequence of the religious and political crisis shaking the foundations of the Old Continent. This section is dominated by the portrait of Martin Luther with his wife Katharina Von Bora painted by Lucas Cranach (Florence, Uffizi) and that of Pope Clement VII by Sebastiano del Piombo, bearing witness to the devastating events that played out around Castel Sant'Angelo, the setting of the violent clashes.
SECTION FOUR Farnese grandeur
The papacy of Paul III (Alessandro Farnese), from 1534 to 1549, coincided with the resurrection of the city after its terrible devastation. This section, which opens with portraits of the Pope, documents the progress he nurtured in both the public and private spheres: the latter with the drawings of Palazzo Farnese from the Archivio di Stato and Museo di Roma and the former with his officially commissioning Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgement. On show for the very first time is the text Idicium Dei de vivis et mortuis by Giovanni Sulpicio Verolano, which was published in Rome in 1506 and has been specially restored for this occasion (Rome, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, cod. misc. F. 93). After the Bible and the Divine Comedy, this text is held to be the main literary source for the fresco. The undisputed masterwork of this section, however, is the splendid Apollo-Davide from the Museo del Bargello that Michelangelo sculpted between 1530 and 1532 for the commander of the papal guards. Michelangelo is the fulcrum of this section, which presents important works that are the subject of recent critical debate, like the Oxford Crucifix and the Buffalo Pietà, a work in the Michelangelo arena which has recently been attributed to Michelangelo himself. Works by Daniele da Volterra, Perin del Vaga, Francesco Salviati, Pellegrino Tibaldi and Marco Pino document the development of the Renaissance style towards more elegant, sophisticated, abstract and ornamental forms that characterised Roman Mannerism, nonetheless still tangibly influenced by Michelangelo and Raffaello.
SECTION FIVE St. Peter's Basilica
In the section devoted to the city's greatest architectural undertaking, the most impressive exhibit is undoubtedly the Wooden Model of the Apse of St. Peter's, formerly part of the large model by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (Vatican City, Fabbrica di San Pietro). Naturally there are many other works documenting this extraordinary project: medals, printed books, drawings and plans like the famous example by Donato Bramante, drawn and watercoloured on parchment (Florence, Uffizi), which represents the original idea of how the Basilica was to be. The architects who worked on the project included Raffaello, Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane, Michelangelo, Pirro Ligorio and il Vignola.
SECTION SIX Roman Mannerism in the mid sixteenth century
Completing the critical premise of the exhibition, the penultimate section illustrates how the teachings of Michelangelo and Raffaello were absorbed and reworked by a large group of painters in Renaissance Rome. This can be seen, for example, in Mystic Press by Marco Pino from the Vatican Museums, inspired by Raffaello's Transfiguration, and also in the two Pietà by Jacopino del Conte and Taddeo Zuccari, taking up a subject dear to Michelangelo, as well as the triptych by Sicionate da Sermoneta from the Galleria Colonna, an explicit reference to early Raffaello.
Another key masterpiece in this section is St. Francis in Prayer from the Galleria Colonna − restored for the occasion thanks to the Fondazione Roma − painted by Girolamo Muziano who, together with Federico Zuccari, founded the Accademia di San Luca, Rome's Accademia di Belle Arti. The presence of two paintings on leather (Rome, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Barberini) by Federico Zuccari shows how the artistic models of the two great masters continued to be meditated on and studied even in the mid sixteenth century: the work Taddeo Zuccari copying the Last Judgement by Michelangelo speaks for itself, while the painting Taddeo painting in the moonlight shows the subject under the vaults of Raffaello's loggias in Villa Chigi. Lastly, a marble table, commissioned to Vasari's design, recalls the intense activity of the artist from Arezzo in Rome.
SECTION SEVEN Furnishings
The last section is dedicated to what could be termed everyday life in Rome, and bears witness to the daily activities of the city's inhabitants. Chopping boards and serving dishes were genuine works of art, like the beautiful majolica depicting the Crossing of the Red Sea, or the inkwell in the form of a monumental sculpture of La Pietà. Then there are the stunning floor tiles of the Vatican loggias designed by Raffaello and produced by Luca della Robbia, from the Vatican Museum.

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