The considerable number of Florentine paintings “in the modern manner” hanging in the Accademia Gallery’s David Tribune include a monumental altarpiece of the Immaculate Conception by Carlo Portelli (dated 1566 and formerly in the church of Ognissanti) which can rightly be considered his masterpiece.
Yet this painter’s work has never received the critical acclaim that it deserves, despite Portello being the recipient of important commissions in day and one of the most active artists commissioned by the Medici family.
Born in the small town of Loro Ciuffenna, near Arezzo, Portelli came to Florence at a certain point and, according to Vasari, received training in the busy workshop of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio. In 1538 he became a member of the Compagnia di San Luca o dei Pittori, a brotherhood uniting the city’s painters, and one of the earliest members of the Accademia del Disegno as soon as it was founded in 1563.
So there’s every reason for using this visionary painting, reminiscent of the style of Rosso Fiorentino and which so shocked poor Raffaello Borghini with its brazen display of Eve’s nudity in the foreground, as the centerpiece of an exhibition comprising all of the pictures that can be attributed to Portelli, and for conducting further research in an effort to clarify his role in Florentine art.
The exhibition, which comprises some 50 paintings, drawings and documents, sets out not only to draw attention to the Accademia’s own altarpiece but also to encourage the gallery’s visitors to discover an artist hitherto known only to experts, an artist who deserving more attention due to originality, imagination and his ability to translate inventive concepts into painting in the manner of Vasari.
The exhibition will run until April 30, 2016.
Carlo Portelli, eccentric painter between Rosso Fiorentino and Vasari exhibition
Galleria dell’Accademia
Via Ricasoli, 58/60, Florence
www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 8.15am – 6.50pm Closed Monday, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
