Accademia Carrara (Bergamo, Italy)

The Accademia Carrara is museum, art gallery and academy of fine arts in Bergamo, Italy.

History

Count Giacomo Carrara decided to establish the art gallery in 1785; the academy of fine arts was added at a later date.

In 1804, the museum’s commission decided to build a new structure and add it to the existing one.

The Collection – Paintings

The paintings cover from the Renaissance to the late nineteenth century. The museum owns 1.793 works. They are the most important part of the museum’s collection.

It contains masterpieces from various artists such as Mantegna, Raphael, Titian, Moroni, Canaletto, Hayez and more.

Among the most famous paintings there are:

• Madonna di Alzano (Madonna of Alzano) by Giovanni Bellini (1485). It originally was in a church in Alzano Lombardo. Many people owned it before senator Morelli, who gifted it to the Accademia Carrara in 1891.

• Storie di Virginia (Stories of Virginia) by Sandro Botticelli (1498). It tells the story of Virginia. Her husband and father decided to kill her to preserve her honour after her kidnapping. The Romans (in the centre of the painting) decided to avenge her.

• Ritratto di Lucina Brembati (Portrait of Lucina Brembati) by Lorenzo Lotto (1518). In the beginning, nobody knew the identity of the subject. In the 20th century, people noticed two small details (the family’s coat of arms and a riddle) that helped to understand the identity of the woman, Lucina Brembati.

• Ritratto di bambina di casa Redetti (Portrait of a child of the House of Redetti) by Giovan Battista Moroni (1570-1573). The little girl wears wears a pearl necklace, usually an accessory for adult women, but also a red coral bracelet, usually gifted to children and symbol of good luck. Her clothes and hair are also similar to those worn by adult women.

The Collection – Sculptures and more

The sculptures are mainly from the Baroque period. There are 134 sculptures and many of them are busts of personalities linked to Bergamo, its local art and history.

Visitors can also see 2.824 drawings from Count Giacomo Carrara, the founder; he collected them during his life for his own private collection and for the school of painting he founded.

Prints by famous artist are kept in volumes because of their teaching purpose. The museum currently has 7500 prints.

The collection also includes 221 coins from Ancient Greece and the Middle Ages and 976 medals.

Many donors decided to contribute to the museum’s collection by gifting their paintings, sculptures and various other art pieces.

Resources:

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accademia_Carrara