| Museums in Genoa

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Titolo dell'opera:

Crucifix of the Caravana

Acquisizione:

Compagnia dei Caravana 1926 Genova - donazione

Ambito culturale:

ambito germanico

Author/ School/ Dating:

Crucifix of the Caravana

Object Type:

sculpture

Epoca:

1340 - 1340 - XIV

Inventario:

MSA 253

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 212; Larghezza: 138; Profondità: 45

Tecnica:

legno di cirmolo scolpito- dipinto

Ultimi prestiti:

LA SACRA SELVA. SCULTURA LIGNEA IN LIGURIA TRA XII E XVI SECOLO - GENOVA - 2004

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Crucifix of the Caravana

Descrizione:

The wooden crucifix is currently attributed to a German artist and dated to around 1340, the year in which the Compagnia dei Caravana, made up of dock labourers generally from Bergamo, built their chapel in the church of the Carmine. The work has been related to the sorrowful crucifixes of the Rhenish-Westphalian current due to its great expressive force and the bare, contracted body (cf. Crucifix of St. Maria Im Kapitol, Cologne, first decade of the 14th century), from which it differs, however, in its less exasperated nature (Botto 1994, pp. 8-14, 45; Di Fabio 2004, pp. 124-125). Devoid of the original cross, it was perhaps equipped with a gem-studded cross in imitation of the tree of life, like most of these. The Caravana crucifix is similar to the one in the church of San Pietro in Gimignano and the one in the church of Santa Margherita in Cortona, so much so that it can be assumed that they are the work of the same hand (Di Fabio 2004, p. 124). It is also about thirty years after the crucifix in the Church of the Magdalene, also the work of an active German artist. The artefact, therefore, fits into the cultural panorama of Liguria in the early 14th century, characterised by the presence of artists from the German area who came into contact with and were influenced by the artistic culture of Pisa, Siena and Umbria (Di Fabio 2004, p. 124; Donati 2004, pp. 25-27). Christ crucified represented with the body gaunt and contracted, the head reclined on the chest and falling to the right with eyes closed and mouth open, arms outstretched. His hips are encircled by a loincloth with two drooping flaps. A clot of blood oozes from the deep wound in the ribcage and the skin of the right foot is torn, leaving the bones exposed.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Knife

Acquisizione:

Eredi Serra 1931 - donazione

Author/ School/ Dating:

Knife

Object Type:

weapon

Epoca:

1701 - 1800 - XVIII

Inventario:

3346

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Lunghezza: 61

Tecnica:

ferro

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Knife

Descrizione:

Knife.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Pair of stylophore lions

Autore:

Maestro Guglielmo

Object Type:

architectural element

Epoca:

1180 - 1180 - XII

Inventario:

MSA 3

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 560; Larghezza: 77; Profondità: 146

Tecnica:

marmo bianco apuano scolpito

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Pair of stylophore lions

Descrizione:

Sculpted by an unknown master familiar with the culture of Pisa, but also of Lombardy and Emilia, they are among the grandest and most impressive examples of Romanesque sculpture in Genoa. Pair of marbe stylophore lions, with phytomorphic decorative motifs, originally from the prothyrum of the south portal of the Church of San Siro.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Ampoule containing the ashes of Christopher Columbus

Acquisizione:

Repubblica S.Domingo sec. XIX, fine - donazione

Ambito culturale:

ambito genovese

Author/ School/ Dating:

Ampoule containing the ashes of Christopher Columbus

Object Type:

reliquary

Epoca:

1501 - 1550

Inventario:

4240

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 50; Larghezza: 30; Profondità: 30

Tecnica:

vetro, cristallo, legno

Ultimi prestiti:

ex museid

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Ampoule containing the ashes of Christopher Columbus

Descrizione:

After his death on 20 May 1506, Columbus was buried in Valladolid. By decision of his descendants, his remains were first transferred to Seville, then - between 1537 and 1559 - to Santo Domingo, then to Havana and then - following the war against the United States (1898) - back to Seville, where today a monumental tomb is dedicated to him in the city's cathedral. However, in 1877, Monsignor Cocchia, apostolic nuncio in Santo Domingo, after opening Columbus' old tomb, claimed that the body transferred from the island was not that of Christopher but of his son Diego, and that the remains still present there belonged to the navigator.

A few years later, the ashes were donated by the government of Santo Domingo to the City of Genoa and kept for years in Palazzo Tursi, in the Sala della Giunta Vecchia. The corners of the base of the case are made up of four winged sea horses.

On the lid is the coat of arms of Genoa held up by two winged griffins and a woman with a sword and anchor.

Inside the case is a glass ampoule containing the ashes of the Navigator.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Altar table with angels

Ambito culturale:

scuola genovese

Author/ School/ Dating:

Altar table with angels

Object Type:

altar table

Epoca:

1601 - 1700 - XVII

Inventario:

MSA 2833

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 5.5; Larghezza: 178; Profondità: 49

Tecnica:

marmo bianco con vene grigio, rosso, giallo e grigio scuro

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Altar table with angels

Descrizione:

The slab comes from the Church of San Silvestro, destroyed by bombing in 1944. Rectangular shaped altar table, adorned with two coloured marble insert decorations depicting two angels holding a heart. Along the edges is a linear geometric motif.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Vessel gun deck

Acquisizione:

Fiaschi-Agherini 15/02/2008 - donazione

Autore:

Fiaschi, Sergio

Object Type:

model

Epoca:

2003 - 2003 - XXI

Inventario:

4556

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 24; Larghezza: 33; Lunghezza: 48

Tecnica:

legno

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Vessel gun deck

Descrizione:

In the early 1900s, the number of lifeboats on a passenger ship depended on its tonnage and not on the number of people on board. On departure from Southampton on 12 April 1912, the 'Titanic' embarked 16 lifeboats and 4 life dinghies, with a total of 1178 places. Although availability was only a third of the total capacity (passengers and crew), the requirements of the Board of Trade were met. However, designer Alexandre Carlisle was concerned. This is shown by the type of cranes installed, which he had specially designed: they were capable of launching up to 4 lifeboats each, increasing the capacity. But these lifeboats were never installed, probably for aesthetic reasons. The shipwreck - in which some 1,500 people died - led to a radical updating of international legislation on safety at sea. The model represents part of the lance deck, with a lifeboat and cranes to lower it into the sea.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Sitting angel

Ambito culturale:

Lapicida attivo a Genova

Author/ School/ Dating:

Sitting angel

Object Type:

statue

Epoca:

1601 - 1700 - XVII

Inventario:

MSA 2958

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 85; Larghezza: 114; Profondità: 48

Tecnica:

marmo bianco

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Sitting angel

Descrizione:

The sculpture comes from the Church of Saints James and Philip, destroyed by bombing in 1942. Seated angel leaning to the right covered with a ruffled robe and mantle. The right leg, bent, is resting on an oval base while the left leg, also bent, is raised. The face is framed by long wavy hair.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Naval battle between Russians and Swedes

Acquisizione:

Fabio Garelli 1922

Autore:

Anonimo

Object Type:

painting

Epoca:

1750 - 1800 - XVIII

Inventario:

193

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 59; Larghezza: 102

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Naval battle between Russians and Swedes

Descrizione:

During the Russo-Swedish War that broke out in 1788, two fleets from these nations faced each other off the coast of Hogland Island in the Gulf of Finland on 17 July. The two fleets were roughly equal in strength, with a total of about 50 ships and frigates.

The objective of King Gustav III of Sweden was to eliminate the Russian Baltic fleet, or at least block it in its ports of Reval (now Tallinn) and Kronstadt, while simultaneously launching a land attack to conquer St. Petersburg.

The Russians suffered the most casualties - about 600 dead compared to 200-300 Swedish - but were strategically successful, as they prevented the attack on St. Petersburg.

The war would end two years later without any particular geopolitical consequences, but with thousands of deaths, mainly Russian. The painting depicts two fleets of ships at sea ready for battle.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Battle between galleys

Acquisizione:

Fabio Garelli 27/6/1927

Autore:

Robusti, Jacopo detto il Tintoretto - Rossetti, Domenico

Object Type:

Epoca:

1801 - 1900 - XIX

Inventario:

1785

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 36; Larghezza: 50

Tecnica:

incisione

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Battle between galleys

Descrizione:

The subject reproduces the painting ‘The Battle of Salvor’ by Tintoretto in the hall of the Doge's Palace in Venice.

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Titolo dell'opera:

Naval battle

Acquisizione:

Fabio Garelli 03/12/1925 - donazione

Autore:

De Wael, Cornelis

Object Type:

painting

Epoca:

1601 - XVII

Inventario:

2253

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 123; Larghezza: 162

Tecnica:

olio su tela

Back to Focus:

Naval battle

Descrizione:

The painting is certainly one of the finest works in the collection of the Maritime Museums of Genoa. Relatively large in size, it depicts the scene of an unidentified naval battle.

The combat is chaotic, while the main subject appears to be the two-decked vessel on the left, which is under fire from a similar vessel: the first, on the main mast, bears a white flag edged with red and bearing a St Andrew's cross, also known as a “Burgundian flag”, which was the banner of the Spanish Netherlands between the 16th and 17th centuries. The second, with gold lilies on a blue background, is a French vessel.

In the foreground: a clash between boats: armed men, arquebusiers and soldiers equipped with rotella - the typical round shield - are fighting at close range: a rather unlikely episode if it did not serve to clearly identify the author, Cornelis De Wael, who, around the 1620s, set up a painting workshop in Genoa that was destined to be very successful and whose “strong points” were, on the one hand, marine paintings and, on the other, naval battles. While in the former genre the two brothers were initially rather uncertain - so much so that they often sought help from other artists such as van Ertvelt - in the latter they emerged strongly, becoming part of the “bamboccianti” movement, which was so influential in 17th-century collective scenes and which is clearly evident throughout the workshop's activity in Genoa. The painting belongs to the workshop's most mature period and can be attributed solely to Cornelis (after his separation from his brother Lucas), probably around the middle of the 17th century. Even the figures of the soldiers, which are very precise and characterised, are certainly later than the “bamboccesco” period, a sign that the workshop had now reached its specialisation.

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