The large bronze, inspired by Michelangelo, was designed for the Italian pavilion in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts inaugurated in 1925 in Paris. The work supported the architrave of the entrance to the Ligurian Hall. The sculpture corresponds to the symbolist poetics that had denoted all the artist's previous production, which with Plinio Nomellini and C. Roccatagliata Ceccardi, had become a point of reference for the city's cultural and artistic circles. One of the sculptor's most important achievements remains the "Arte del Sogno" (Art of Dream) room designed for the 7th Venice Biennale in 1907, with the collaboration of his friend Nomellini, Galileo Chini and Gaetano Previati: it is the highest expression of the creation of an environment in which sculpture, painting and applied arts merge. One of the sculptor's most important achievements remains the Sala dell'Arte del Sogno designed for the 7th Venice Biennale in 1907, with the collaboration of his friend Nomellini, Galileo Chini and Gaetano Previati, the utmost expression of the creation of an environment in which sculpture, painting and applied arts merge. bronze sculpture

Nicolò Barabino commemorates the death of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, the ambitious duke who wrested possessions from France in the 17th century and was considered an example to follow in the fight against "the foreigner". The imposing painting was commissioned by Umberto I and then donated to the city of Genoa in 1891, to honour the memory of the artist who suddenly died that year. Unfortunately left unfinished, with the signs of the underlying drawing still evident, it clearly documents the artist's progressive approach to the suggestions of symbolism. The painting depicts the last moments of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy inside a palace.

The 'Portrait of a Girl' represents, to a high degree, that atmosphere of melancholy and suspension of time that characterises Casorati's art. The girl is portrayed from an elevated viewpoint and with a framing that cuts off the figure above the knees. She seems to stare at the void indifferent to what is happening around her with an absent expression, surrounded by everyday objects such as a small flowerpot, a watering can and, on the opposite side, a tea towel. The original grey frame echoes and amplifies the cold tones of the painting.
On the reverse side, evidently repudiated by the artist, are painted a female nude and two sketched figures, one of which is seen from behind, which are outlined against the background occupied by a page, in the unmistakable pink colour, of the sports newspaper "Gazzetta dello Sport". The portrait depicts a young woman sitting with her shoulders hunched and her hands clasped in her lap. A soft palette with pastel effects, playing on the contrasts between blue and pink, characterises the resigned figure of the girl and the everyday context in which she is immersed by the artist. The painting is done on canvas glued to cardboard, which forms the back of the work, also painted by the artist with two sketched figures, one of which is seen from behind, and a female nude outlined against the background occupied by a page, in the unmistakable pink colour, of the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

 

According to Vassili Kandinsky, the colour blue was an impulse of humans looking for their intimate nature - a colour that attracts humans towards the infinite and reawakens a desire for purity and a craving for the supernatural. The same thoughts must have been subconsciously shared by those who had commissioned the canvas that had to portray the Passion of Christ.

The blue canvas, painted in monochrome, are imprecisely halfway between popular devotion and cultured art. They were in the Abbey of St. Nicholas of the Bush in Polcevera Valley and they were made in fibre of linen dyed in indigo and painted with white lead. They are fully entitled to be considered illustrious ancestors of the canvas of Genoa or jeans. The collection is made of fourteen canvas, and dates back from 1538 to late XVIIth century. They were inspired by Albrecht Durer’s engravings portraying the Little Passion. The canvas were purchased in 2001 by the Italian State and they belong to the Fabrics Collection of the Archaeological Authority of Liguria, which placed them temporarily in the Museum for now. According to recent studies, these canvas represented the “sepulcrum” or Altar of Repos, an ephemeral setup for Holy Week. Probably they were placed inside the church to create a small chapel for the devotees.

This is one of several replicas of this subject, the first example of which was made for King Francis II of Bourbon. Its success was decreed by its participation in the Paris Salon of 1882. The theme of the child of the people offering water harks back to genre art with naturalistic accents; however, here Gemito retrieves the outcomes of Hellenistic Pompeian sculpture, above all the figure of the dancing Faun.

 

An extraordinary ivory Immacolata (second half 17th century) that illustrates the truly uncommon skill of the craftman in working this material. Unfortunately, the provenance of this genuine masterpiece is unknown, but its iconography suggests Genoese affiliations despite the fact that some details (in particular the complicated hairstyle) would point to the hand of a Nordic artist. Exactly who the artist was is difficult to say. Many foreign sculptors (Flemish, French, German) working in ivory came to Italy - and Genoa was one of the principal destinations - to refine their art in carving, and then, often, they stayed or settled in Italy.

Similarly there were, of course, numerous Italian artists working in ivory. They, like their foreign colleagues, produced works in various materials: not only ivory, but also stone, wood and metals. Unfortunately almost none of them signed or dated their works so we are left to admire a masterpiece that stands out among the ivories of the time while investigating an intriguing open question.

 

The four Evangelists are depicted inside niches, while the ovals show the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, San Lorenzo and San Sebastiano. The date and the name of the author can be read on the front bottom right: «Melchior Suez Ann. Dom. MDIC ": the artist was commissioned to reuse the four statues of the Evangelists which had been produced in 1568 in Antwerp for an earlier proposed design of the Corpus Domini processional ark.

 

 

It is the oldest known ark to have been used to preserve the ashes of St. John the Baptist. The shape is that of a rectangular building with a sloped “roof” covering  which extends beyond the “walls”, the work is decorated with plant motifs. The panels which compose it tell the life of the Christ’s precursor.

On the front face are the scenes of the artyrdom: Herodias instigates Salome, Herod attends the dance of Salome, the servant carries the head of the Baptist, the executioner is about to perform the Beheading. The front side and the two short sides are decorated with precious  stones, rectangular and oval shaped, cut cabochon. According to a later tradition - the seventeenth-century ark was reported to be a devotional offering from the Emperor Federico Barbarossa.

 

 

According to tradition, the dish was used to bear the Baptist's severed head after his martyrdom: it is an exceptional piece for its artistic quality, for its devotional importance, and for its intrinsic value. The dish is the product of two different epochs: the original container is made of chalcedony, and is of Roman production from the first century AD., probably commissioned by an emperor.

The metal decoration that frames and characterizes its centre with the representation of the head of the Baptist is a French work from the early fifteenth century: in gold with rubies and enamel. The client who commissioned this work was likely to have been King Charles VI himself or the Duke of Burgundy or that of Berry, its first recorded owner was Cardinal Jean Balue, a leading figure of mid-15th century France, advisor and friend of the King of France, and much more, a leading exponent of the Valois dynasty. It was donated by the cardinal to Pope Innocent VIII, who himself a Genoese, assigned it to the Protection of the Chapel of St. John the Baptist in his native city.

 

 

The ark was created in order to carry the ashes of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Genoa, on the occasion of his feast (June 24), a ritual that is still maintained today. The ashes, preserved in the cathedral inside the altar of the chapel dedicated to the Saint, were recovered by the Genoese from the city of Mira in 1098, at the time of the First Crusade. The ark was commissioned by the Priors of the Chapel and produced between 1438 and 1445. The overall design is attributable to the Ligurian Teramo Danieli, who, however was subsequently replaced by another Ligurian artist  Simone Caldera (previously active in Siena) due to his artistic culture which was of an international level.
The shape of the ark is that of a miniature cathedral topped with heavily decorated spires and pinnacles. At the four corners two evangelists: St. John and St. Mattew and the city’s two patron saints: St. George and St. Lawrence. In the central part the story of the John the Baptist is told in its ten most significant episodes, from the announcement of his birth to his burial following his martyrdom.