This winter, the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary will host its second exhibition in a year of Italian Old Master paintings, Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi.  Opening on January 26, 2008, the show will feature more than forty paintings from renowned artists such as Botticelli, Nicolas Poussin and Canaletto.

This exhibition covers five centuries of landscape painting and reflects the truly international collections of works at the Uffizi, one of the greatest museums in the world.  Beginning with the work of the great master Botticelli in the 1500s, the exhibition showcases the best Old Master artists including Guercino, Filippo Napoletano, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, and Canaletto and includes works from the twentieth-century such as futurist Giacomo Balla. 

The exhibition explores the evolution of landscape painting in Italy, by Italian artists and their counterparts from France, Germany and the Netherlands. From its early roots as background settings in paintings in the 1500s, to its role as protagonist in paintings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and finally as an important part of the artist’s life in Modernity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these paintings illustrate the glory of the Italian countryside.

“This winter, Italian art lovers won’t have to journey across the ocean to experience some of Italy’s greatest artists,” says Dr. Aaron De Groft, director of the Muscarelle. “Instead, these beautiful works of genius will grace the walls of the Muscarelle in Williamsburg, Va. We are incredibly excited to offer this opportunity to our patrons and visitors, especially during this 2008 year, our 25th anniversary year.”

Viewers of the exhibit will find a few of the paintings to be of exceptional interest, including Claude Lorrain’s Landscape with the Dance of Farmers, ca. 1637; Canaletto’s The Tower of Marghera, ca. 1750; Poussin’s Theseus finds the Arms of His Father, ca. 1635; and Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi, from 1500. These are amazing works by the very best painters of their times.

The show is curated by the Director of the Uffizi, Antonio Natali and is organized by Contemporanea Progetti in Florence in association with the Friends of the Uffizi and the Trust for Museum Exhibitions of Washington, D.C. The Muscarelle exhibit will be the first venue for this traveling exhibition in 2008.

The Uffizi show runs from January 26, 2008 through March 23, 2008. The Muscarelle Museum of Art is located on Jamestown Road on the campus of The College of William & Mary. The Museum is open from 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.  The Museum is closed on Mondays.  Docent tours are available at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays and other times to be announced.  During these exhibitions, there is an admission fee of $10.  Admission is free for Museum Members; The College of William & Mary faculty, staff, and students; and children under twelve.  For more information about this exhibit or the Muscarelle in general, please call 757-221-2700 or visit www.wm.edu/muscarelle.