| Museums in Genoa

Click here to view image

Author/ School/ Dating:

Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen, 1577 - Anversa, 1640)

Object Type:

Painting

Technique and Dimensions:

Oli on canvas, 265 x 188 cm

Back to Focus:

Peter Paul Rubens "Portrait of Gio. Carlo Doria"

Descrizione:

Recorded in the inventory of Giovan Carlo Doria's assets drawn up in 1617 and in subsequent inventories of the picture gallery of the palace in Vico del Gelsomino, the painting passed to his son Agostino and then, in 1640, after Agostino’s death, to his brother Marcantonio Doria. In fact, Carlo Giuseppe Ratti reports it as hanging in Marcantonio IV Doria’s picture gallery. Subsequent hereditary passages saw its transfer to Naples, where it was exhibited in the Doria d'Angri palace.
In March 1940 the painting was put up for sale together with other works in the collection, but the export request that its new owner presented on June 18^th, 1940 was rejected by the Minister of National Education following opposition from the National Council of Education. However a year later the painting was ceded to Adolf Hitler and destined for the museum in Linz. On November 16^th, 1948, the portrait was returned to Italy and exhibited in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, it remained there until 1985, when it was transferred to Naples and placed in storage at the Capodimonte museum. In 1988 the work was definitively assigned to the National Gallery of Liguria in Palazzo Spinola.
The origins of the painting can be traced with particular precision. Giovan Carlo was knighted as a member of the Order of St. James, on 28^th December 1612, this was the final step of a process initiated by a "plea" dating to around 1603. On July 8, 1606 Philip III, informed the Order of his intention to confer the honour to the nobleman, a declaration which had to be communicated within thirty days. It can therefore be assumed that following the official announcement of the investiture Giovan Carlo, taking advantage of the presence in Genoa of Rubens, commissioned the painting in which he appears bearing the cross of the Order, but without wearing the robes (1610) nor having taken the oath (1612).
In the same year Rubens painted a portrait of Giovan Carlo’s father Agostino, now lost, and that of his sister-in-law Brigida Spinola.

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Acquisizione:

Collezione Edoardo Chiossone 1898

Autore:

Katsushika, Hokusai

Object Type:

ukiyo-e woodblock print

Epoca:

1801 - 1850 - XIX

Inventario:

S-2583/13

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 26; Larghezza: 37.6

Tecnica:

carta giapponese- xilografia

Ultimi prestiti:

Hokusai and the Ukiyoe. The floating world from the Chiossone collection - The Cleve Carney Museum of art, Chicago, USA - 31 may - 21 september 2025
Ukiyoe, il mondo fluttuante, visioni dal Giappone - 20 febbraio - 23 giugno 2024

Back to Focus:

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Descrizione:

Universally known as "The Great Wave", this print is the most popular of the "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" series. It represents a highly innovative case in the history of ukiyo-e landscape painting, "the art of the floating world", an artistic production aimed at the bourgeois public of the Edo Period (1600–1867). Becoming famous in the West at the end of the 19th century thanks to the spread of Japonism, this powerful view was much loved by the Impressionists and still continues to influence design, marketing and advertising today. The composition consists of three main elements: the stormy sea, the boats and Mount Fuji. The boats are called oshiokuri-bune, barges 12/15 meters long used for transporting fish still alive. Each boat is operated by eight rowers and carries two passengers. This ukiyoe woodblock print can be considered the iconic image of the modern contrast between man and nature. The great wave that puts sailors in difficulty is an image of nature that dominates man, and contrasts with the other great natural element of the work: the volcanic mountain of Fuji, the national symbol of Japan. The artist became famous for his landscapes created using a palette of indigo and imported Prussian blue.

Foto di Gaetano Gallino "Giuseppe Garibaldi"

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Acquisizione:

Leone Carlini 1933 - acquisto

Autore:

Gallino, Gaetano

Object Type:

painting

Epoca:

1848 - 1848 - XIX

Inventario:

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 73.3; Larghezza: 64

Tecnica:

olio su tela

Back to Focus:

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Descrizione:

Gaetano Gallino, Genoese, exiled as a supporter of Mazzini, met Garibaldi in 1841 in Uruguay and fought under his command in the Italian Legion in Montevideo and, in 1848, on hearing of the revolutionary uprisings, returned with him to Italy. Here, the Hero of Two Worlds is portrayed wearing the legendary red shirt, which he adopted for the first time in 1843 as the uniform of his volunteers of the Italian Legion. Portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi in a red shirt.

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Flag of the Thousand

Acquisizione:

Carabinieri di Genova 15 febbario1861 Genova - donazione

Autore:

Anonymous

Epoca:

1859 - 1861 - XIX

Inventario:

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 140; Larghezza: 190

Tecnica:

seta ricamata

Back to Focus:

Flag of the Thousand

Descrizione:

The Neapolitan patriot women donated the flag to Garibaldi in September 1860; in turn, the Neapolitan gave it in an official ceremony in Caserta on 19 October of the same year to the Genoese Carabinieri corps, who handed it over to the mayor of Genoa, Marquis Gerolamo Gavotti, on 15 February 1861 (see nos. 833, 834). Representing the Genoese Carabinieri at the official ceremony were Antonio Mosto, Stefano Canzio, Bartolomeo Savi, Giovanni Fontana and Luigi Malatesta. In later years, at Garibaldi's own wish, it was only displayed at special patriotic ceremonies, as in the case of Giuseppe Mazzini's funeral, which took place in Genoa on 17 March 1872. Garibaldi often referred to this banner as the 'flag of the Thousand'. Since 1915, the flag, known as the 'flag of the Thousand', has been kept in the Museo del Risorgimento.

Foto di Petrus Henricus Theodor Tetar van Elven "La partenza dei Mille"

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Departure of the expedition of the Thousand

Acquisizione:

Petrus Henricus Theodor Tetar van Elven 1889 Genova - acquisto

Autore:

Tetar van Elven, Petrus Henricus Theodor

Object Type:

painting

Epoca:

1889 - 1889 - XIX

Inventario:

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 96; Larghezza: 179

Technique and Dimensions:

Oil on canvas, 179 x 96 cm

Back to Focus:

Departure of the expedition of the Thousand

Descrizione:

The painting is a faithful reconstruction of the departure of Garibaldi and his volunteers from the cliff of Quarto. The artist’s meticulous attention to detail led him to visit the site as well as to make a careful review of the available documents, images and eye witness reports, this also allowed him to accurately depict the physiognomy of the main protagonists, those close to Garibaldi. Garibaldi himself stands out in the uncertain dawn thanks to the glare created by one of the nearby figures lighting a pipe. The painting is a faithful reconstruction of Garibaldi and his volunteers' departure from the rock of Quarto on 5 May 1860.

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Burning of the Golden Book of Nobility in Piazza dell'Acqua Verde

Acquisizione:

A. Capurro 1921

Autore:

Anonymous

Object Type:

Epoca:

1797/06/14 - 1797/06/14 - XVIII

Inventario:

I.M.G. St/3322

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 43.8; Larghezza: 21

Tecnica:

incisione su carta

Back to Focus:

Burning of the Golden Book of Nobility in Piazza dell'Acqua Verde

Descrizione:

Under the influence of the ideas of freedom and equality originating in revolutionary France and brought with them by Napoleon's armies, a popular uprising in Genoa marked the end of the aristocratic regime and the advent of the democratic Ligurian Republic. The painting depicts the episode in Piazza dell’Acquaverde on June 14th, 1797, when Genoese Jacobins raised the flag of freedom and set fire to the “Golden Book”, the register of the Genoese Nobility.

Foto di Plinio Nomellini "Inaugurazione del Monumento ai Mille"

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Inauguration of the Monument to the Thousand

Acquisizione:

Plinio Nomellini 1916 Genova - donazione

Autore:

Nomellini, Plinio

Object Type:

painting

Epoca:

1915 - 1916 - XX

Inventario:

Dip/205

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 39; Larghezza: 44

Tecnica:

olio su tavola

Back to Focus:

Inauguration of the Monument to the Thousand

Descrizione:

The painting documents the atmosphere of anxious anticipation and patriotic exaltation surrounding the inauguration of the Monument to the Thousand. The artist depicted the moment when the large red drape covering Baroni's work was removed and the Hero appeared to rise. The painter Antonio Discovolo relates the circumstances of the creation of this small painting, describing a Nomellini who, at the very moment Gabriele d'Annunzio was giving his speech, squeezed some colour from a small box onto the palette, dipped his fingers in it and began to trace red, blue and yellow stains on a tablet, each time wiping his finger on the lining of the jacket of the painter Eugenio Olivari, who repeatedly tried to get him to use a handkerchief.
Further evidence of the day is provided by the extensive photographic material produced for the occasion. The painting depicts the inauguration of the monument to the Thousand in the Genoese district of Quarto.

Foto di Domenico Induno "Goffredo Mameli"

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Goffredo Mameli

Acquisizione:

Domenico Cozzani 1959 - acquisto

Autore:

Induno, Domenico

Object Type:

painting

Epoca:

1849 - 1849 - XIX

Inventario:

Misure:

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 42; Larghezza: 34

Technique and Dimensions:

Oil on canvas, 42 x 34 cm

Back to Focus:

Goffredo Mameli

Descrizione:

Poet, writer and soldier, the author of the lyrics of the Italian National Anthem he was the “soul” of the demonstrations in Genoa which, from 1846, aimed at achieving constitutional reforms; he ran to the aid of the Milanese insurgents against the Austrians in March 1848, took part in the 1st War of Independence and died at the age of 21 in 1849, during the defense of the Roman Republic which was besieged by the French. Three-quarter close-up portrait of Goffredo Mameli.

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

Guitar

Acquisizione:

Josephine Shaen 1933

Autore:

Fabricatore, Gennaro

Object Type:

guitar

Epoca:

XIX - 1821 - 1821

Inventario:

Cat. 286

Misure:

Tipo di misura: volume; Unità di misura: cm; Valore: 93x29x10

Utilizzo:

Suonare

Back to Focus:

Giuseppe Mazzini and music

Descrizione:

Six-string instrument with wooden body and neck. Giuseppe Mazzini was a passionate music lover and musician himself. Fully in tune with his time, he considered music education an indispensable element in the education and training of individuals and peoples. His musical interests, in particular his interest in the guitar, are evidenced both in his extensive correspondence with his mother and friends, especially between 1835 and 1856, and in his work 'Philosophy of Music', published in Paris in 1836. A connoisseur of the repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries, he also paid particular attention to folk songs, considered the most genuine expression of the human soul. During his exile in Grenchen, Switzerland, he was able to appreciate the local folklore; as evidence of this, the Museo del Risorgimento has a copy of the musical manuscript that bears the autograph note: "Song of the Bernese Herdswomen, my memory of 1836 trusted now to my friend Giannetta Nathan".

Foto di Goffredo Mameli "Il Canto degli Italiani"

Click here to view image

Titolo dell'opera:

The song of the Italians

Autore:

Mameli dei Mannelli, Goffredo

Object Type:

manuscript

Epoca:

1847 - 1847 - XIX

Inventario:

A.I.M.G. 4-803

Misure:

Misure mancanti: MNR

Tecnica:

inchiostro-carta

Back to Focus:

Giuseppe Mazzini and music

Descrizione:

Written in the autumn of 1847 and set to music in Turin by Michele Novaro, it was sung in public for the first time on 10 December 1847 in Genoa, during the solemn procession commemorating the Balilla revolt of 1746. It immediately spread throughout Italy, embodying the sentiment of national unity. It is the first handwritten draft of the Italian national anthem, contained in one of the poet's personal notebooks.

Search

Search