Old Masters from the State Hermitage Museum

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎Never to miss for all
Official Site

Site: Mori Arts Center Gallery
Until 18th June, 2017

Good selction from the Hermitage, from the viewpoint of taste of Ekaterina II. Some works has revisited Japan with 25 years' interval.

Portrait of a Young Woman in a Hat with a Feather by Tiziano  has a magical gaze, part of the secret of which lies in the finest work in her irises.  Tisane succeeded in sophistication compatible with somewhat scandalous theme as usual.  His talent can be better understood through comparison of a work of his bottega (workshop).

The bottega work, Venus before the Mirror may be among the finest of his bottega works, but still far below those of his own, from the appearance of the goddess' left hand to the total atmosphere.

St. Cecilia by Carlo Dorci is on the summit of this Exhibition, also among the best paintings on music.  A music dedicated to the God could be listen.  I wonder why not holding an exhibition focused on Carlo Dorci in Japan.

Andromeda by Francesco Furini shows a contrast of an emotional face with ceramic-like body in nude. Abundant volume of her hair emphasizes her sorrow as well as increasing sensuality.  A dramatic but still tranquil baroque nude.

Young Woman with a Veil by Jean-Baptiste Santerre is a mysterious work.  Is she a mistress, a priest, a sibylla  or a swindler.  While the catalogue suggests "superficial attempt to imitate the works of Rembrandt", the rather intellectual atmosphere of this work seems more close to those of La Tour.  Rembrandt works are with darker aura of human beings.

Haman Learns His Fate by Rembrandt is remarkable with the unique design in arrangements, with impact of expression of tarban and Red-Orange clothes, suggesting the bloody fate.

The Childhood of the Virgin by Zurbaran could be one of the best of his work in spite of its size, in that it is successful example of his quest for classic holiness merger with Spanish native ethos.  

The Virgin and Child beneath an Apple Tree by Cranach the elder waits in The final section.  While it is representing a triumph of Christ over the Sin, the look of Mary and Jesus is rather demonish, testing human beings.  A rare Mary as a femme fatale.