The Christmas Miracle in Munich: A celebration of art history!
A Christmas miracle in the Bavarian State Painting Collections: "Giorgione discovered"
Research group discovers a forgotten work by Giorgione! (Italiano, Deutsch)
Munich. An interdisciplinary research group has discovered a forgotten work of art by Girogione as part of the inventory of Venetian Renaissance paintings within the Bavarian State Painting Collections. After extensive art-historical and art-technological investigations, the researchers from the team from the Alte Pinakothek and the Doerner Institute in Munich were able to consolidate their knowledge that a "mysterious double portrait", which was part of the exhibition "Venezia 500. The gentle revolution of Venetian painting" ( Alte Pinakothek, October 27, 2023 – February 4, 2024) was on display and has been on display since 2011 was presented in the Green Gallery of the Munich Residence, a personal creation by Giorgio da Castelfranco (1473/74–1510), called Giorgione! Particularly exciting: there are also different signatures. The work will now be shown permanently in the Alte Pinakothek. Giorgione, who died young, revolutionized Renaissance painting. Research report online - free of charge - as PDF (see below): www.amjournal.org/publications/54 (copy link into browser)
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| Pinakothek der Moderne Back of the Alte Pinakothek (bottom right) - photos and collage: Helga Waess |
The press release from the Bavarian State Painting Collections states:
"The famous artist biographer Giorgio Vasari saw the painting in 1568 in the palazzo of the Florentine banking family Borgherini and described it as a portrait of the young Giovanni Borgherini with his teacher from Venice. In fact, the head of the humanist portrayed corresponds to the traditional appearance of the Venetian polymath Trifone Gabriele, one of his students Giovanni Borgherini demonstrably counted with an astrolabe and compass, which is also demonstrated by contemporary sources Teachers of astronomy and cosmology, proven scholars in the Munich portrait show how heaven and earth can be measured, while the youthful Giovanni with his soft curls and dark eyes corresponds to the ideal of musical-intellectual longing that characterized the Venetian portrait culture of these years.
Art-technological investigations made it possible to determine the materials used by the artist, the diversity of which reflects the wide range offered by Venetian paint dealers, and also brought to light a literally multi-layered creative process. Using imaging and material analysis methods, including, above all, macro-X-ray fluorescence scans of the front and back of the picture, three further compositions were revealed beneath the visible representation: a brush drawing of the biblical scene of the twelve-year-old Jesus among the scribes, above which is reminiscent of Giorgione's famous Tempesta Landscape scene and finally the portrait of a richly dressed figure, whose robe probably came from the Nasrid Emirate of Granada. As cross-section samples show, all four compositions were created in direct succession. The technological investigations provide rare insights into the working methods of an uncompromisingly innovative artist. At the same time, the image inventions testify to the painter's joy of experimentation and ambition, who competed with Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer with his virtuoso brush drawing, who sought a dialogue with the poetic creations of his contemporaries with the painted fantasy of an Arcadian landscape and whose detailed eye for a Fabric patterns from Moorish Spain reflect the Venetian openness in cultural exchange with the Islamic world. Taken together, the findings result in a very strong chain of evidence, the evidentiary value of which for the attribution to Giorgione is essentially supported by the discovery or reinterpretation of the sources that have been preserved on the provenance and collection history." (Press release from the Bavarian State Painting Collections, dated December 18, 2024)
Art Minister Markus Blume emphasizes the Christmas miracle inherent in this discovery
“The discovery of a Giorgione in the Bavarian State Painting Collections is a true Christmas miracle! A Giorgione is not only spectacular for the Alte Pinakothek, but also a highlight for the international art world. I would like to thank the interdisciplinary team of scientists from the Alte Pinakothek and the Doerner Institute in Munich for making this discovery possible with their ingenuity, precise research and state-of-the-art analysis technology.”
“Giorgione's multi-layered double portrait brings together everything that represented the cultural flowering of Venice in the early 16th century... The discovery of this masterpiece is thanks to the precision of two young scientists, Johanna Pawis and Anneliese Földes, who we are able to employ thanks to generous funding for our project. The painting is of inestimable value, it is a spectacular stroke of luck for the Alte Pinakothek and a sensation for Italian art history. A Giorgione under the Christmas tree is more than winning the lottery!”
Eva Ortner, director of the Doerner Institute
“Our recipe for success is close interdisciplinary teamwork directly on the work of art, in direct exchange between art history, restoration and natural sciences, at eye level and with the greatest permeability between the disciplines...”
Bernhard Maaz, General Director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, concludes:
“Museums, by their very nature, are not just places of cultural education, mediation and communication. They are also research institutions. Our own holdings are examined with the greatest care, which in this case was made possible by the generosity of many sponsors. My heartfelt thanks go to the German Research Foundation, the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation and the Hubert Burda Foundation.”
A publication on the topic "Double Portrait Attributed to Giorgione"
The original painting can be viewed in the Alte Pinakothek: Giorgio da Castelfranco, called Giorgione (1473/74–1510), portrait of Giovanni Borgherini and Trifone Gabriele, 1509/10, canvas, 91.5 x 67 cm, inv . No. 7452 - Munich, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Alte Pinakothek
"The research results, which are nothing less than a sensation for the art history of Italian Renaissance painting, are now being presented to the public in a freely accessible online publication": https://www.amjournal.org/publications/54
The results, thanks to which another work by Giorgione can now be seen in the Alte Pinakothek in addition to the portrait of a young man (around 1505/10), have now been published in detail and with all the art technology images in the international open access magazine ArtMatters: One Canvas, Four Ideas: A Double Portrait Attributed to Giorgione With Different Compositions Underneath | in: ArtMatters:
- Anneliese Földes, Johanna Pawis, Heike Stege, Eva Ortner, Andreas Schumacher, Jan Schmidt, Jens Wagner, Andrea Obermeier: One Canvas, Four Ideas. A Double Portrait Attributed to Giorgione With Different Compositions Underneath, in: ArtMatters. International Journal for technical art history, volume 9, issue 1, S. 1–33.
Multi-year research project
The multi-year research project led by Andreas Schumacher and Eva Ortner is generously supported by the GERMAN FORSCHUNGSGEMEINSCHAFT (DFG), the ERNST VON SIEMENS KUNSTSTIFTUNG and the HUBERT BURDA STIFTUNG.
- For further information see: Venetian painting of the Renaissance in the Alte Pinakothek.
Source and quotes:
Press release from the Bavarian State Painting Collections, dated December 18, 2024
