17th century AD

Magazine Antiques, Feb, 2001 by Miriam Kramer

In the first quarter of the seventeenth century Rome was reborn as a major center of European painting. That epoch is celebrated in an exhibition entitled The Genius of Rome: 1592-1623 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London until April 16. The election of Pope Clement VII in 1592 coincided with the arrival in Rome of Caravaggio, an innovative painter known for his interest in subjects beyond history painting, his depictions of low life, and his still lifes. He was balanced by Annibale Carracci, whose interest was in antiquity and classical subjects. They were joined by the northern European painters Adam Elsheimer and Peter Paul Rubens.

The guest curator of the exhibition is Beverly Louise Brown, who has assembled more than 145 works of art, all of them executed in Rome by fifty artists. In addition ten altarpieces from Roman churches will be leaving their churches for the first time to exhibited in this show.

The exhibition is sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston in association with the London Financial Times.