This exhibition marks the first time this landmark group of Renaissance tapestries has been on view in the United States. The seven enormous panels, each about 27 by 14 feet, are displayed alongside impressive examples of 16th-century arms and armor. The Battle of Pavia tapestries commemorate Holy Roman Emperor Charles V’s 1525 victory over French King Francis I during the 16th-century Italian Wars. Among the most prized Renaissance arts, monumental tapestries served as dynamic tools for storytelling and political propaganda. They required remarkable feats of collaboration between artists and weavers — a single panel could take over a year to produce. Designed by court artist Bernard van Orley (1487–1541), the Pavia tapestries were groundbreaking creative achievements that incorporated the latest artistic advances. Their vast scale draws viewers into the world of Renaissance politics, technology, and fashion.

More more information, see the de Young museum website.

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Director Emeritus and AFC Co-Founder, Sylvain Bellenger, is the co-curator of this exhibition and AFC Program Director, James Anno, is the Museum of Fine Arts Houston curator for the special exhibition. The AFC is planning its annual trip to coincide with the opening of 'Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries' in San Francisco at the de Young Museum (October 17-20, 2024, to be confirmed).
Attendees will also receive an exhibition catalogue (Rizzoli. Pages: 208. Pub. May 21, 2024). AFC Fellow Emma C. de Jong is a contributor. For payment options, see the membership page.

During the reigns of the Bourbon kings Charles III of Spain (who ruled as Charles VII of Naples from 1734 until 1759) and his son Ferdinand IV (1759 until 1799), the Mediterranean city of Naples established itself as a major European capital and key destination on the Grand Tour, even as Mount Vesuvius continued to smolder, threatening its environs. Throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century, these two monarchs funded archaeological excavations on the Bay of Naples that unearthed ancient treasures and fed into the craze for classical art that infused the Bourbon court.

The Legacy of Vesuvius offers a unique experience by bringing to Dallas ancient artifacts discovered in the course of the Bourbon excavations and exhibiting them alongside eighteenth-century examples of fine and decorative arts that demonstrate how the mystique of Vesuvius shaped elite and popular taste. Featuring loans from the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Wellcome Collection, audiences will gain new insights into the role of the Bourbon court in shaping European art and culture.

For more information visit: https://meadowsmuseumdallas.org/exhibitions/legacy-of-vesuvius/

Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries marks the first time that this entire cycle of seven large-scale tapestries—some of the most awe-inspiring examples of this often-overlooked artform—has been on view in the United States. The tremendous images, each about twenty-seven feet wide and fourteen feet high, commemorate Emperor Charles V’s decisive victory over French King Francis I that ended the sixteenth-century Italian Wars. Designed by court artist Bernard van Orley, the tapestries were woven in Brussels by Willem and Jan Dermoyen in deeply saturated hues and exquisite detail, luxuriously highlighted with gold. Each composition is packed with figures including richly adorned military leaders, horsemen, and mercenary foot soldiers armed with swords, pikes, and firearms, all inhabiting beautifully undulating landscapes dotted with hills, towns, and forests. The immersive scale of the tapestries draws viewers into the world of Renaissance history, military technology, and fashion and will be complemented by impressive examples of arms and armor from the period. More more information, see the Kimbel Art Museum website.

An exhibition catalog will be published by Rizzoli.

A great exhibition with over seventy masterpieces from the art collections of Capodimonte which include authentic Masters such as Caravaggio, Titian, Masaccio and Parmigianino, to name a few. 

A journey to discover a collection but also a fascinating history: that of a large museum that, over the centuries, has preserved some of the most prestigious art collections in Europe.

The exhibition is made possible thanks to the intervention of the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte by virtue of an exceptional and exclusive relationship among prestigious international cultural institutions.

The Nineteenth Century in Naples is still a little-known and little-discovered century. The exhibition will take the public on an incredible journey through the visions that Naples has managed to stimulate and produce, and which have pervaded art, architecture, and imagination for over a century as few other cultures have been able to do. “Napoli Ottocento” at Scuderie del Quirinale is a chance to learn about some of the artistic and cultural creations that were made during that time in Naples. In the exhibition halls it’s possible to observe many works by great artists like: Ludwig Catel, William Turner, Thomas Jones, John Singer Sargent. As well by many exponents of the school of Posillipo, Portici and Resina like: Anton van Pitloo, Giuseppe De Nittis, Ercole and Giacinto Gigante, who with their work have gone beyond the classic idea of landscape and have produced extraordinary and very important visions.  During the same century, Mariano Fortuny, the Palizzi brothers, and Domenico Morelli tried with their art to show the stories and the feelings that were winding through the city. And then, almost surprisingly, a French artist whose family had Neapolitan roots: Edgar Degas. Finally, among others, at Scuderie del Quirinale will be exhibited the works of Achille d’Orsi, Antonio Mancini and Vincenzo Gemito, up to Burri and Fontana.

The time frame described in exhibition is not just a century but a much longer time. The Nineteenth Century in Naples starts from the cosmopolitan charm of the Grand Tour and ends with the outbreak of the First World War. The exhibition summarizes the great cultural and artistic production that took place in Naples. During that time, artists from all over Europe and the United States decided to work in Naples to contemplate and paint the charms of Pompei and Herculaneum, the sea, the mountains, the islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida, the sceneries of the Amalfi and Sorrento coasts, the folklore, the muddy earth of Vesuvius, the lush vegetation of Campania, the splendor and the decay, the urban planning and picturesqueness of Neapolitan life, all blending together in a constant dazzle.

More than 80 works, many of which have never traveled before, will be part of the Louvre’s exhibition on Capodimonte’s collection of Italian art. Major donors are invited to join the AFC trip to attend the exclusive opening of this exhibition. The trip includes a private tour of Naples in Paris by Capodimonte director Sylvain Bellenger, visits to the Italian and American embassies in Paris, and a tour of the permanent collection of the Pompidou Centre, followed by a rooftop dinner.

AFC Members will enjoy two days of private tours and Italian meals in the Nation’s Capital!

On January 14, Renato Miracco, curator of the exhibition An Italian Impressionist in Paris: Giuseppe De Nittis will lead a private tour at The Phillips Collection at 2:00 pm. Lunch at Sette Osteria has been organized before the exhibition. A few spaces are still available. To participate, call 202-344-0441. Free to members. Join here.

On January 15, Gretchen Hirschauer will lead a private tour of the National Gallery of Art’s exhibition, Vittorio Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice at 10:00 am. The tour will be followed by lunch at Fiola Mare. Call 202-344-0442 to participate. A few spaces available. Free to members. Join here.