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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Medici family’s name is ubiquitous in history classes. The Italian family had economic, social, and artistic influences throughout their time of power in history. Carlo Dolci, a painter who found favor with the Medicis, earning him patronage, is one of the important historical figures that came to notoriety in large part due to the influence of this family. Currently, the Davis Museum at Wellesley College is exhibiting “The Medici’s Painter: Carlo Dolci and 17th-Century Florence,” celebrating the life and work of Dolci. It is the first exhibit of its kind in America.
Curated by Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Head of the European Art Department and Elizabeth and Allan Shelden Curator of European Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the exhibit considers Dolci’s work in depth, as well as art as a critical, diplomatic, political and cultural tool. “It provides the first opportunity in the United States to study the life and oeuvre of the most important artist in 17th-century Florence,” Straussman-Flanzer said. Dolci was well known for his half-length and single-figure devotional paintings, however he also tackled altarpieces and portraits. His first works of art were created in the 1620s, and he worked until his death at the age of 70.
This particular exhibit moves beyond considering Dolci simply a devotional painter and looks at the aesthetic merits, naturalistic elements, and cultural context of the artist’s work. The Medici family “ultimately recognized his reverence for detail, brilliant palette, and seemingly enameled surfaces.” All of these aspects are explored and highlighted throughout the exhibit. Two of Dolci’s smaller devotional pieces are housed within a space that emulates a small chapel. The lighting is dim and the space itself is small, allowing for an experience similar to what it would have been like praying in front of a piece such as “The Blue Madonna” during the artist’s life.
The exhibit includes over 50 autograph works through loans from some of the world’s most prominent museums, including the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as pieces from private collections.
It is open through July 9.
