Preview of the extraordinary Pontormo’s Visitazione currently under restoration

Giorgio Vasari wrote about Pontormo an affectionate and accurate biography. But a few lines are enough to define the personality of his friend Jacopo Carucci, called Pontormo (Pontormo, Florence, 1494 – Florence 1557). “That the brain,” Vasari wrote in his Lives “was always investigating new concepts and extravagant ways of doing, but on no one stopped and nobody made him happy.” These words, better than any critical essay, reveal the restlessness and the irregularity of a genius painter who has so fascinated both his contemporaries (though with some misunderstanding) and the writers of the twentieth century, such as Leonardo Sciascia, Alberto Arbasino, Pier Paolo Pasolini and also the artist Bill Viola.

The work of Pontormo reinterpreted by Bill Viola, The Visitation of the Parish of Carmignano (1528-29) will be one of the most important paintings to be exhibited in March 2014 in Florence, in a major show at Palazzo Strozzi, along with works by Rosso Fiorentino.

The Visitation is now undergoing a major restoration work, sponsored by Moretti Gallery, in the study of Daniele Rossi in Florence. The restoration will be completed at the end of February 2014. Conceptual fine arts asked Daniele Rossi a preview of what is coming to light. Among the most important discoveries – said Daniele Rossi – are the many repainting and refinishing of the gray architectures: Pontormo, knowingly, had painted the spots on the walls to convey the impression of the chipped plaster, but they were covered in later periods. However, what is more surprising, is that, under one of these repainted architectures, the figure of a donkey emerged: the face of a small grey animal with an appearance reminding us – here in the XXI century – of comic books. In the icy atmosphere of the picture, this detail throws a little of unusual and unobtrusive irony.

July 17, 2015