Keith Christiansen

To celebrate the Neue Galerie’s twentieth-anniversary year, an exhibition will be presented of selections from the collection of its co-founder. The accompanying book continues with the theme of the tenth anniversary exhibition. Whereas the earlier show and publication focused on pieces from the third century BC to the twentieth century AD from Austria, France, and Germany, this exhibition and book will represent various centuries and media, highlighting Greek and Roman works, and Italian thirteenth- and fourteenth-century gold-ground paintings. Essays by distinguished art historians and curators will reflect on the breadth of these special fields, providing a background for various works, and their incorporation into the collection of the Neue Galerie’s co-founder.

Portraits, an inherently personal subject, provide an engaging entry point to an exploration of the politics, patronage, and power in Renaissance Florence The Medici family ruled Florence without interruption between 1434 and 1494, but following their return to power in 1512, Cosimo I de’ Medici demonstrated an unprecedented ability to wield culture as a political tool. His rule transformed Florence into a dynastic duchy and give Florentine art the central position it has held ever since. As Florence underwent these dramatic political transformations in the sixteenth century, portraits became an essential means of recording a likeness and conveying a sitter’s character, social position, and cultural ambitions. This fascinating book explores the ways that painters (including Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, and Francesco Salviati), sculptors (such as Benvenuto Cellini), and artists in other media endowed their works with an erudite and self-consciously stylish character that distinguished Florentine portraiture. Featuring more than ninety remarkable paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and medals, this volume is written by a team of leading international authors and presents a sweeping, penetrating exploration of a crucial and vibrant period in Italian art. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (June 26–October 11, 2021)