Two Veronese on Lake Maggiore. History of a Collection

Ten years after their discovery in Villa San Remigio, the Allegory of Sculpture and Allegory with the Armillary Sphere by Paolo Veronese (Verona 1528 – Venice 1588), two important 16th-century works now owned by the Piedmont Region, return back home to Lake Maggiore, becoming the masterpieces of an exhibition at the Museo del Paesaggio in Verbania.

The discovery of the paintings in Verbania in 2014, made possible the recustruction of a series that had been lost over time and known only through copies. In the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) there are in fact two other Allegories which are part of the same group, undocumented by the sources and of uncertain provenance, perhaps the vestibule of the Libreria Marciana in Venice. The monumentality of the figures, clearly reminiscent of Michelangelo, the muted tones and the taste for ruins, very different from the Palladian architecture of the mature Veronese, lead one to consider them youthful works by the master. The two Veronese canvases depict the Allegory of Sculpture and the Allegory with the Armillary Sphere (Astronomy?) and can be dated to about 1553.

A great mystery still hovers around the canvases, which scholars are trying to solve; this presentation at the Museo del Paesaggio aims to return them to the city by allowing them to be viewed and studied further. A documentary video, curated by Dr. Cristina Moro and directed by Francesco Clerici, will accompany the exhibition (to watch the trailer click here)

Download here the instruction to make contact with the artworks