Leonardo da Vinci's celebrated work "La Scapiliata" is on display today at the Gallerie d'Italia – Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples. Relocated from the Pilotta Monumental Complex in Parma, this exhibition anticipates next year's celebrations for the five hundredth anniversary of Leonardo's death. Curated by Marco Carminati, it will be open to the public from July 6th to September 2nd. The arrival of Leonardo da Vinci's work in Naples marks the seventh edition of the "Illustrious Guest" exhibition, which features a significant work on temporary loan from prestigious Italian and international museums at Intesa Sanpaolo's exhibition venues – the Gallerie d'Italia and the 36th floor of the Turin Skyscraper. In previous editions of the Illustrious Guest exhibition, three masterpieces were displayed at the Gallerie di Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples: Portrait of a Man by Antonello da Messina from Palazzo Madama in Turin (2015-2016), Harlequin with a Mirror by Picasso from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid (2016) and Caravaggio's Musicians from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2017), while at the Gallerie di Palazzo Leoni Montanari in Vicenza Bellini's Transfiguration from the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples was exhibited (2016). During the last two editions, Titian's Portrait of Count Antonio da Porcia from the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan (2017) and Bronzino's Madonna and Child from Capodimonte (2017-2018) were presented at the Grattacielo Intesa Sanpaolo in Turin.
Leonardo's famous painting, "The Head of a Girl", called "La Scapiliata", is a wooden panel measuring 27 by 21 centimetres, painted with raw umber, greened amber and white lead, known since 1627 for its citation in the inventories of Federico Gonzaga. Its dating is still uncertain and the subject of study, as is its actual nature (unfinished painting, sketch, preparatory study), its provenance and its destination. More than thirty years after the great exhibition Leonardo and Leonardism in Naples and Rome held at the Capodimonte Museum, the return of the painting to the city will allow us to revisit the themes addressed on that occasion, updating them with the most recent critical interventions. The refined Head of a Girl – perhaps “unfinished” and shrouded in mystery, will in fact be compared, during a guided tour scheduled for July 7 and July 21, with the face of Saint Ursula from Caravaggio’s Martyrdom, allowing for a deeper understanding of the techniques and language of these two masters of Italian art.
Alongside Leonardo da Vinci's Scapiliata, a digital reproduction of Herodias Brings the Head of St. John the Baptist to Salome by Bernardino Luini will be exhibited. The original work, dated around 1527 and kept at the Uffizi since 1793, is of extraordinary historical importance. The dialogue between the faces of Leonardo's masterpiece and that of Luini is made possible here thanks to the exhibition of the latter in the form of DAW - Digital Art Work, a digital copy reproduced in a limited series, numbered and certified, in 1:1 scale in every way faithful to the original, created by the Cinello company in agreement with the Uffizi Galleries using an innovative patented technology. The initiative is promoted by Save the Artistic Heritage.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to