Titian and the Renaissance in Venice

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎Never to miss for all
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Site: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Until: 2nd April, 2017

It is the last of the series of grand Rinascimento-Baroque exhibitions to celebrate 150th anniversary of Japanese- Italian diplomatic relations.
The banner has been handed down by Botticelli, through Leonard, Caravaggio, Venetian school including Tiziano, and again to Tiziano.

Flora (cat. 20) and The Repentant Mary Magdalene (cat. 40) reached with the eternity in feminine elegance and natural aliveness of lady skin, which never be rivaled with even by Leonard or Raffaello, Sfumato of whom gives me more artificial or ideal taste.  Ingres might have explored for the middle of Tiziano and Raffaello.

And Portrait of Pope Paul III (cat. 38) is mixture of realism and political message, integrated into an old and tired, but still Machiavellistic or cunning image.  It is natural that Verazquez admired Tiziano.

Besides, there are more to enjoy.

While you have been tired of many dull works attributed to Veronese in museums, The Holy Family with Saint Barbara and the Child Baptist (cat. 47) weaves lights into a masterpiece.  Fame of Veronese is not fake.

Also impressive are rather minor painters, such as Marco Palmezzano (cat. 8 and 18) in somewhat Firenze taste, Marco Basaiti (cat.6) as a forerunner of surrealistic color and shape, and Bernardino Licinio (cat. 24, 26 and 34).

Some attributes cat. 25 and 27 to Giorgione, but I never agree.  The curators might be challenging your sense of beauty.

Finally, I thank generous loan of invaluable masterpieces by Italia in 2016-2017 and be shamed of rather poor counter-loan by Japan.  Why Buddist sculptures exhibited in Rome lacked first class ones? Why Jomon flame potteryies is loaned to British Museum, not counterparts in Milano or Napolis?  What about Jakuchuu or Medieval Emaki scrolls?