National Gallery of the Marche: the Madonna of the cat returns to Urbino from Palazzo Pitti

From 20 June to 6 October Palazzo Ducale will host the monographic exhibition dedicated to one of the city’s most illustrious sons, with excellent loans from the main Italian and international museums

The event is at the end of spring: it is entitled “Federico Barocci Urbino. The emotion of modern painting” the monographic exhibition which for over four months – from 20 June until 6 October 2024 – can be admired in the sumptuous spaces of Palazzo Ducale and which is an integral part of the calendar of Pesaro, Italian Capital of Culture 2024.

Curated by Luigi Gallo (Director of the Galleria delle Marche) and Anna Maria Ambrosini Massari (Professor of History of Modern Art at the University of Urbino), with Luca Baroni and Giovanni Russo, the exhibition brings the works of one of his most illustrious sons: Federico Barocci (1533-1612).

Thanks to a set of loans from major national and international museums that enrich the already very important collection of the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, the monographic exhibition offers 76 of Barocci’s paintings and drawings, illustrating all the phases of his long career.

Excellent loans: the Madonna of the cat
Coming from the Palatine Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, the so-called Madonna della gatta is a key work for the first section of the exhibition dedicated to Federico Barocci. It was commissioned to the artist by Duke Francesco Maria II della Rovere, who may have requested the canvas in view of a papal visit in 1598 or to celebrate the birth of his firstborn in 1605.

On the left are Joseph, the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus resting in the cradle. On the right appears a second group composed of Elisabetta, Mary’s cousin, with her husband Zaccaria and her son Giovanni Battista. The two families are connected, right in the center of the composition, by a third figure: the cat that gives the name to this painting, crouching on the Madonna’s dress while she breastfeeds a puppy. This detail softens the strictly religious theme highlighted by John’s finger pointing towards Christ, giving the scene a domestic tone. The perspective opening offers us a glimpse of the architectural landscape of Urbino, shining through the clouds.

The city setting is dear to Barocci: in the exhibition the painting will be displayed as the final element of the first room dedicated to Barocci’s relationship with his native city, preceded by some self-portraits and portraits of the most important Rovereschi members. Deliberately the altarpiece will occupy a prominent position to mark Barocci’s relationship with his clients and in reality crucial to underline that the painter’s story must not be read only in terms of connections and characters, but above all it must be interpreted in relation to the territory Urbino.

The western façade of the Palazzo Ducale seen in the background, therefore, acquires an emblematic value for Federico Barocci, who frequently includes it in his works, as a tribute to his homeland. The most attentive will notice that the palace is also a recurring element in other paintings in the exhibition, for example, the Annunciation from the Vatican Art Gallery and the Transport to the Tomb from Senigallia are two other precious paintings where the façade of the small towers appears. The Madonna of the cat is the first element to make this resonance explicit in the visit itinerary, creating a background that harmonizes the individual pieces with each other and with the environment that hosts them.

In fact, for this and many other works the exhibition is an opportunity to return home. In fact, with the extinction of the Della Rovere family in 1631, all state property relating to the duchy was confiscated by the Vatican, while family assets such as the exceptional Feltre art collections left the city together with the last heir Vittoria, wife of Grand Duke Ferdinand II of ‘ Doctors. The canvas was originally placed in the winter apartment of the Grand Duchess, on the first floor of Palazzo Pitti and still enriches the collection of the Uffizi Galleries today. The loan offered the opportunity to clean and consolidate the pictorial film so that the work will appear to visitors as newly restored in its best guise.

INFO SHOW
Federico Barocci Urbino. The emotion of modern painting
edited by Luigi Gallo and Anna Maria Ambrosini Massari with Luca Baroni and Giovanni Russo
20.06.2024 – 06.10.2024
Inauguration: 18.06.2024 at 11 am
Opening times: from TUE to SUN: from 8.30am to 7.15pm (ticket office closes at 6.15pm); MO closed
Entrance: €12 full; €2 reduced; €1 booking
Catalog published by Electa
National Gallery of the Marche
Ducal Palace of Urbino
Piazza Rinascimento 13, 61029 Urbino (PU)
Telephone: 0722 2760
[email protected]
www.gallerianazionalemarche.it