Italian Masterpieces June 16 2014

Italian Masterpieces June 16 2014:

I went with my friend David to see the Italian Masterpieces at the NGV and spent about two hours viewing this incredible collection from Spains' Royal Court, Museo Del Prado.

The audio guide is worth the extra $8 as Vince Colosimo narrates the "Overviews" to each room of the gallery and also other specialised talks with themes for each room. I learnt many interesting facts about the era, paintings and history surrounding the works.  Without his narration the exhibition would only be about many paintings that I do not particularly like.  Religious paintings are not my favourite genre and thankfully Vince's narration brings them to life.  Mind you there are more than religious paintings in this collection.

Do check out a painting that has Meryl Streep's double standing behind a man.  For the life of me I cannot recall the name of the painting but it is tucked in a corner of about the fifth room.

I would love to learn about the cloud hovering in the large coliseum painting. The coliseum looks as if it has been cut-a-way to show us the inner performance in the centre.  But it is the detail of the audience that intrigues me as every person has been painted with exquisite detail and seems to have a reason for being at the event.  Each person is not just a filler but integral to the dynamics of the work.

More so, I want to know about the light that this "drone" shaped cloud provides to the painting.  Has this cloud provided the reason for the cut-a-way to reveal the main arena?  If only we could ask the artist!  Sadly we can only speculate.

Forgive me for not providing details of the paintings or the artists or the history.  Let Vince provide his superb narration.  Even with some of the audio levels changing, his narration was engaging, informative and clear.

Talking with David about the large painting with elephants we both agreed that the people in the background seemed to be an afterthought.  These people seemed to be painted behind a gauze scrim in a theatre that provides a haze, which is similar to the look of the film "Picnic at Hanging Rock."

The sixth room has still-life and flower paintings.  To think that four out of five paintings by a particular artist is in this room is incredibly breath taking.  Check out the other still life paintings.

It is a worthwhile exhibition and I would recommend a Monday afternoon for viewing as it seemed to be quiet.  The great aspect of our NGV is that you do not have to travel to Spain to see these works.  The winter and summer series by the NGV is such a part of Melbourne's culture.

There was a group on a tour and the tour guide I felt was rude when I was viewing a cabinet and basically pushed me aside for his tour group.  I think the group noticed how rude he was. 

I do want to see the "Art As Therapy" free tour. This is a self-guided tour and will be on my next visit to our NGV.