Splendour of the Baroque: Painting from Bologna 1550 to 1750

The genesis of this exhibition lay in the acquisition by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1991 of a magnificent portrait by the Modenese artist Nicolo dell'Abate 1509-1571.

It was our original hope to develop an exhibition embracing this work that would illustrate the evolution of the Mannerist style into the Baroque, centred on Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna regions.

As the proposed exhibition took shape under the guidance of Professor Andrea Emiliani, it became evident that a variant proposal, confined to the art of Bologna but charting that same evolutionary pattern, would be a more concise and more emphatic display.

As a result of this approach we have an exhibition composed of many of the finest moments and visions of Bolognese artists at a time when that city was at the very vanguard of artistic practice in Italy.