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Innocenzo Spinazzi, La Religione, 1794

The cloaked figure of “Religion” was made for the tomb of Varvàra Jakovlevna Tatisceva, wife of prince Aleksandr Michailoviĉ Belosel’skij, Russian ambassador to the court of Savoy from 1792 to 1793. Remembered by sources as a cultured man and a lover of the arts, particularly music, having commissioned works by Lorenzo Pécheux and others, the prince chose to commission the renowned Roman sculptor to produce the sculptural group in “white Carrara marble, depicting Religion and three cherubs” to decorate the tomb of his young wife in the urban cemetery in Turin, which no longer exists.
The appearance of the entire monument, which was placed in an aedicula with an illusory landscape painted on the rear wall, is documented in an engraving by Luigi Valperga made immediately after the completion of the work: the “veiled figure” stood on a tall pedestal with an epigraph in verse on the front, flanked by three childlike figures supporting an oval bas relief with the effigy of the deceased. The epitaph referred to the duration of affections beyond the limits of earthly life and the expressive and sentimental value of the sculpted image: “O sentiment, sentiment! Douce vie de l’âme! Quel est le cœur / que tu n’as jamais touché quel est l’infortuné mortel / à qui tu n’as jamais donné le doux plaisir de répandre des larmes / et quelle peut-être l’âme impitoyable que l’aspect / de ce monument si simple et si pieux ne se recueille / avec mélancolie et ne pardonne généreusement / aux défauts du malheureux époux qui l’a élevé!”
The statue of “Religion” is all that remains of the tomb, which was transported to the San Pietro in Vincoli cemetery in 1862 and then recovered in a state of advanced decay near the Mole Antonelliana, before becoming part of the GAM collection. To create this severe figure, inspired by Winckelmann’s concept of “noble simplicity” and not without a subtle mournful charm, Spinazzi referred to one of his most appreciated works, the statue of “Faith” made in 1781 for the church of Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi in Florence. The motif and pose of the prototype were repeated with minimal variations and the sculpting of the drapery is just as delicate, with thick folds that chastely conceal the beautiful feminine form.

Details
itle: The Religion
Creator: Innocenzo Spinazzi
Creator Lifespan: 1718 – 1798
Creator Nationality: Italian
Creator Gender: Male
Creator Death Place: Florence
Creator Birth Place: Rome
Date: [1794]
Physical Dimensions: w115 x h215 x d60 cm
Origins: From San Pietro in Vincoli Cemetery, Turin
Inscriptions: Signed and dated on the base: INN.° SPINAZZI ROM.° / FACEVA IN FIRENZE / MDCCXC […]
Provenance: GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin
Type: Sculptures
Rights: All rights reserved, GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin
Medium: Marble
artsandculture.google.com/asset/la-religione/lAEdiIbcPsOC…

Venice Biennial 2024 – 01

Today, April 20, 2024 (Non English the date would read 20-04-2024), the Venice Art Biennial opens to the public. It is the 60ieth.

I will be visiting it half June and look forward to it. I visited it in 2005 and in 2015, with almost 10 year intervals.

Straniere Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere

Is the title this year under which Adriano Pedrosa, from Brazil, curates not only the exhibitions in the Arsenale and the Giardini, but also in various venues in the city.

The Board of La Biennale di Venezia met today on Thursday, December 15th and, upon the recommendation of President Roberto Cicutto, appointed Adriano Pedrosa as Director of the Visual Arts Sector, with the specific task of curating the 60th International Art Exhibition to be held in 2024.

Adriano Pedrosa (Brazil) is currently the artistic director of Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP.

Prior to that he was adjunct curator of the 24th Bienal de São Paulo (1998), curator in charge of exhibitions and collections at Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (2000-2003), co-curator of the 27th Bienal de São Paulo (2006), curator of InSite_05 (San Diego Museum of Art, Centro Cultural Tijuana, 2005), artistic director of the 2nd Trienal de San Juan (2009), curator of 31st Panorama da Arte Brasileira-Mamõyaguara opá mamõ pupé (Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, 2009), co-curator of the 12th Istanbul Biennial, and curator of the São Paulo pavilion at the 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012).

At MASP Pedrosa has curated many exhibitions, including solo shows dedicated to the work of Tarsila do Amaral, Anna Bella Geiger, Ione Saldanha, Maria Auxiliadora, Gertrudes Altschul, Beatriz Milhazes, Wanda Pimentel, and Hélio Oiticia, as well as the ongoing series devoted to different Histories: Histories of Childhood (2016), Histories of Sexuality (2017), Afro Atlantic Histories (2018), Women’s Histories, Feminist Histories (2019), Histories of Dance (2020), Brazilian Histories (2022).

He has recently been appointed 2023 recipient of the Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence, given by the Central for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, New York.

Pedrosa has a degree is Law from the Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro and masters’ degree in Art and Critical Writing from the California Institute of the Arts. He has published in Arte y Parte (Santander), Artforum (New York), Art Nexus (Bogotá), Bomb (New York), Exit (Madri), Flash Art (Milan), Frieze (Londres), Lapiz (Madri), Manifesta Journal (Amsterdam), Mousse (Milan), Parkett (Zurich), The Exhibitionist (Berlin), among others.

STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT ROBERTO CICUTTO
“The choice of Adriano Pedrosa as curator of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is the result of a process that grew out of our experience of working with Cecilia Alemani. I believe it is essential to build on what emerged from the previous Exhibition (this was also the case with the appointment of Lesley Lokko, following the International Architecture Exhibition curated by Hashim Sarkis) to direct our next choice.
Pedrosa, an esteemed curator and the director of the important Museu de Arte de São Paulo in Brazil (designed by Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi), is known for the competence and originality he has shown in conceiving his exhibitions with a vision open to the contemporary, working from an observation point of the world that cannot disregard the nature of its place of origin. Rather than restricting his vision, this has extended it to an indispensable debate so that now more than ever La Biennale might address contemporary art not to provide a catalogue of the existing, but to give form to the contradictions, dialogues and kinships without which art would remain an enclave devoid of vital sap.
I would like to thank the Board of Directors of La Biennale for having accompanied me in this choice”.

STATEMENT FROM ADRIANO PEDROSA
“I am honored and humbled by this prestigious appointment, especially as the first Latin American to curate the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, and in fact the first one based in the Southern Hemisphere. The Biennale is certainly the most important platform for contemporary art in the world, and it is an exciting challenge and a responsibility to embark on this project. I look forward to bringing artists to Venice and realizing their projects, as well as to working with the Biennale’s great team. For this unique opportunity, I am grateful to the Biennale President, Roberto Cicutto, as well as to the Institution’s Board

Cited from the official Biennial site.