The Italians Three Centuries of Italian Art

The best works are stupendous and there are plenty of them, and there are some great names inluding: Leonardo, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Carracci, Caravaggio, Guercino and Reni. Also, some famous examples in art history texts are here, like Rosso Fiorentino’s Moses Defends the Daughters of Jethro. Though lauded by art historians for its innovation, the picture looks unfinished and has some patchy drawing that an artist of Rossi’s caliber would have tidied up. The exhibition is lit theatrically, with spotlit works radiating from a bed of dim maroon, a stagy contrast that enhances the luminosity of the pictures. It is an anachronistic mise-en-scene but it makes for a thoroughly seductive experience.