The Museo Giovanni Boldini is a biographical museum, located in the Palazzo Massari, in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, dedicated to Italian painter

Giovanni Boldini Giovanni Boldini (31 December 1842 – 11 January 1931) was an Italian genre and portrait painter who lived and worked in Paris for most of his career. According to a 1933 article in ''Time'' magazine, he was known as the "Master of Swish" beca ...

. It is one of the three museums located in the palace, being the others the Museo dell'Ottocento and the Museo d'arte moderna e contemporanea Filippo de Pisis. The current museum has been closed for restoration work since the

2012 Northern Italy earthquakes In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, because they mainly affected the Emilia-Romagna, Emilia region. The first earthquake ...

History

The museum was inaugurated during the

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regimen on 20 October 1935 as part of the urban redevelopment of the city and the cultural rebirth of the ancient Estense capital has been defended by

Renzo Ravenna Renzo Ravenna (Ferrara, August 20, 1893 - Ferrara, October 29, 1961) was an Italians, Italian lawyer and politician. He belonged to a prominent Jewish family in Ferrara and was, with Enrico Paolo Salem in Trieste, one of only two Fascism, Fascist ...

, the mayor from 1926 to 1938, and by

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Italian Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian ...

's closest collaborators, including the journalist . Its first location was in the

Palazzo dei Diamanti Palazzo dei Diamanti is a Renaissance palace located on Corso Ercole I d'Este 21 in Ferrara, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. The main floor of the Palace houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara (National Painting Gallery of Ferrara). History T ...

, but later the collection was transferred to the Palazzo Massari.Ilaria Pavan, ''Il podestà ebreo. La storia di Renzo Ravenna tra fascismo e leggi razziali'', Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006, p. 64 (Italian) Giovanni Boldini, born in Ferrara, was one of the best portraitists of European high society of the 19th century and early 20th century. A notable collection of his works, donated by the artist's widow, is located in the halls of the main floor of the palace, together with many drawings, studies and personal objects of the painter. Boldini, although had settled in Paris, was buried in his city of origin.Andrea Buzzoni (coordinator), with Marcello Toffanello, ''Museo Giovanni Boldini'', illustrated complete catalogue, Ferrara, 1997 (Italian)

Exhibition rooms

The museum begins with the baroque chapel of the palace, located beyond the large Festival Hall, then it encompasses three small rooms with early works by the painter, including a ''Self-Portrait'' and the oil ''Two White Horses''. In the fourth room, a sumptuous frescoed environment of vast proportions, five large paintings are exhibited which testify to Boldini's mastery, including the portraits of the Countess Gabrielle del Rasty, and the Infanta Eulalia of Spain, all executed between 1878 and 1891. After this room there are two rooms without paintings: a long corridor entirely painted with medallions and fake sculptures and a sumptuous rococo living room decorated with white and gold stuccos. The Boldini collection then resumes with drawings and watercolours. The last room is dominated by the painting ''The Walk in the Bois''. The subsequent rooms contain numerous pictorial studies and personal objects of the artist, including the box of paints and brushes, and the famous painting ''Lady in Pink''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Museo Giovanni Boldini Giovanni Boldini Art museums and galleries in Emilia-Romagna Art museums and galleries established in 1935 1935 establishments in Italy Biographical museums in Italy Museums devoted to one artist