A HOMECOMING FOR PIER FRANCESCO FOSCHI Georgia Museum of Art show opens in Florence, Italy
Pier Francesco Foschi (1502 – 1567) was a Florentine through and through.
He first trained with his father and then joined the workshop of Andrea del Sarto, one of the leading artists in Florence and perhaps the most influen - tial painter of the Renaissance. Foschi spent his career in his hometown, where prominent families commissioned him to paint portraits and devotional images. Many of his work can be found in churches around the city. In November 2023, on the heels of groundbreak- ing, scholarly research carried out at the Georgia Museum of Art, the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence presented the first exhibition devoted to Foschi in Europe. Nelda Damiano, the Georgia Museum of Art’s Pierre Daura Curator of European Art, came to her job at the University of Georgia with an appreciation for Foschi. Her doctoral degree focused on Italian Renaissance art and her previous job was at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, in Jacksonville, Florida, which has a stunning Foschi portrait in its collection. She spearheaded the exhibition “Wealth and Beauty: Pier Francesco Foschi and Renaissance Florence,” which was on view in Athens in early 2022 and was the first museum exhibition in the world focusing on the artist. In the process of organizing the exhibition and putting together its catalogue (the first widely avail - able and comprehensive publication on the artist), Damiano made many contacts in Florence, including Cecilie Hollberg, the director of the Accademia. They agreed that it would be ideal to have a parallel show in Foschi’s hometown, especially given the fragile state of some of his centuries-old paintings. The catalogue for the show in Athens reproduced images of frescos and altarpieces that were unable to make the trip across the Atlantic, but in Florence, visitors could just walk around the city to get their true fill of Foschi.
“Working together with the Galleria dell’Accademia to honor Foschi in his native city and introduce him to audiences from around the world has been an amazing experience."
Nelda Damiano poses at the Galleria dell’Accademia’s exhibition of artist Pier Francesco Foschi’s work.
Installation photos from the exhibition of artist Pier Francesco Foschi’s works at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy.
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