WHAT ARE SINOPIE? PISANELLO SECRETS REVEALED
The Ducal Palace of Mantova is running a special exhibition to mark the revolutionary discovery in the 1960s of the cycle of frescoes by Antonio Pisano, better known as Pisanello, that had been concealed under coats of plaster for 5 centuries.
The works covered some 100 sqm in two adjoining rooms formerly known as the Room of the Princes and the Room of the Popes on the piano nobile of the palace. The paintings depicted the cycle of the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, with the emphasis on battle scenes and jousts.
The frescoes had been detached from the wall and much of the original colour lost. However, the sinopie, or preparatory drawings, in red ochre pigment or black, that the artist had traced as guidelines on the wall were clearly revealed and this rare find caused great excitement at the time among art experts and restorers.
The frescoes had been smothered under layers of plaster and fragmented by alternations carried out over the centuries, such as the opening of new doorways, the lowering of the pavement and the installation of a fireplace.
The detached frescos have been mounted on steel frames and a raised footboard installed so that visitors can admire the scenes at the level they were originally intended to be seen at.
The exhibition also contains 30 works, including Pisanello's “The Madonna and Child with Saints Anthony and George” on loan from the National Gallery of London and the first time in Italy since 1862, some drawings from the Louvre in Paris and the enigmatic “Madonna della Quaglia” (Madonna of the Quail) from the Museum of Castelvecchia in Verona.
“Pisanello Il Tumulto del Mondo” (the World in Tumult) until the 8th January 2023.
Info: Tel. +39.041.2411897 www.mantovaducale.beniculturale.it pal-mn@cultura.gov.it