Palazzo Pitti hosts over 130 works by romantic painter Giuseppe Bezzuoli. Works by the Florentine artist will be on display from March 29 to June 5 in a spectacular display of paintings, sculptures and drawings in the splendour of Palazzina della Meridiana at Palazzo Pitti.
Born in Florence on November 28, 1784, Giuseppe Bezzuoli attended the Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Desmarais and Pietro Benvenuti, quickly achieving acclaim. The exhibition is curated by Vanessa Gavioli, Elena Marconi and Ettore Spalletti and was scheduled to be on show in 2020 before the pandemic waylaid plans.
This is the first major retrospective dedicated to the renowned artist: director of the Uffizi Galleries, Eike Schmidt, elaborates, “Finally, due attention is given to Bezzuoli, who stands out as one of the absolute protagonists in the vibrant artistic and intellectual landscape of Europe in the mid-19th century and beyond”.
The display details Bezzuoli’s career as well as the art of his time in the vast show that includes many loans from Italian and international museums and collections. The artistic itinerary starts with Bezzuoli’s neoclassical beginnings before reaching his later works when he was at the height of his fame, creating masterpieces of great Italian romantic painting such as Eve tempted by the snake (1853), and The Expulsion of Hagar (1844), both recent acquisitions by the Uffizi Galleries.
Bezzuoli’s artistic production is compared with other important masters like Francesco Hayez and Massimo D’Azeglio, offering visitors the opportunity to admire works by the greatest exponents of cosmopolitan art and culture in Florence during the early 19th century.
