Andrea Solario, “Vago Coloritor”, shown in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum – Milan

Milan – In Fast Giorgio Vasari quotes him as “Very vague painter and colors”From dazzling colors that vibrate with their own light.
When Venice is at the height of his economic and cultural power at the end of the fifteenth century, the Milanese painter Andrea Solario arrives together with his brother Cristoforo and here he has the chance to get to know the flower of the local masters, Giovanni Bellini above all.
However, the Cosmopolitan City is also the favorite destination for foreigners such as the young Albrecht Dürer or Perugino, whose painting has an important influence on young Andrea. From April 1507, Andrea Solario was documented as a judicial painter of Cardinal Georges d’Amboise, uncle of the governor of Milan Charles d’Amboise, in the castle of Gaillon, in Normandy.
Pioneer of the Italian Renaissance in France, prior to Leonardo’s stay in about ten years, the painter will open the 2025 exhibition season in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum with the exhibition “The temptation of color. Andrea Solario and the Renaissance between Italy and France”. You can visit the first monographic exhibition by Andrea Solario, Prince of the most glorious moment of Milanese art and Sforzesca, immediately after the arrival of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan From March 26 to June 30.

Andrea Solario, Cleopatra, About 1515, table transported on canvas, private collection, photodarte

Solario, specialized in portraits and work for a private customer, excelled mainly in small or medium -sized paintings. The signed production, between drawings and paintings, is reduced to fewer than eighty works that are spread between museums and private collections around the world.
“Despite the wonderful quality of her best production – explains Alessandra Quarto, director of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum – a monographic exhibition project dedicated to Andrea Solario was never undertaken if we are organized in addition to an exhibition at Louvre in Louvre in Louvre in Louvre in Louvre in Louvre in Louvre In Louvre in Louvre in Louvre.

Yet it has not always been that way. Solario was a famous artist. His works were purchased at very high marks on the market, and in the second hidden many of his works were even attributed to Leonardo. Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli appreciated him to the point to buy five works, while three other paintings came to the museum between 1881 and 1902.

The Exhibition Itinerary, Curated by Lavinia Galli and Antonio Mazzotta, Presents for the first time Together 24 Master peces of the master who Arrive in Milan Thanks to Extraordinary Loans Never arrived in Italy, FROME FROMIUSE TEANANTOS And to the British Museum in London, from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna to the Veneranda Ambrosian Library, private collectors.

The occasion of the exhibition is voriously to admire, one next to the other, the Italian and French masterpieces, public and private life, some of which have been restored for the occasion. The three sections reflect the journeys of the Maestro.
When the first – in Venice – presents the Venetian experience, in contact with the masters in the lagoon, the second phase, dedicated to the production of the French period, some of the greatest masterpieces follows, including the famous Madonna of the green pillowOne of the most reproduced paintings in art history. In the room, three works are brought together for the first time in Italy by the Louvre, one of which has been restored for the occasion.

Andrea Solario, Madonna met het kind (Madonna of the Green Pillow), rond 1510, tafel (canvas opgenomen in de voorbereiding), Parijs, Louvre Museum, Département des Peintures © opaspalaisrmn (Musée du Louvre) / Michel Uttado) / Michel Uttado) / Michel Uttado) / Michel Uttado) / Michel

Finally, Milanese production covers the third part with some sublime results of the art of the master in saint and profane subjects, where the beautiful face itself Portrait of Donna del Castello Sforzescoand the Portrait of the Gercolamo Morone Grancancelliere private collection.
Absolute novelty in preparation for the exhibition, the restoration and diagnostic campaign was carried out by the museum on the works of Andrea Solario. The winning result of the Eurpean infrastructure for Heritage Science Call has created the Poldi Pezzoli Museum Diagnostic Analysis to investigate the executive technique of Andrea Solario from youth to adulthood. The results of the analyzes, carried out in Italy by the CNR and France by the Louvre Restoration Laboratory, turned out to be fundamental to deepen the knowledge of the master’s knowledge. They will be presented on an international study day with the participation of countless specialists.

To testify how Andrea Solario’s fortune has reached the current day, enters the graces of contemporary art, the installation of Robert Wilson that can be seen. On the occasion of the exhibition, the artist selected three video frames from the portraits of the video series of Lady Gaga presented in living rooms, an exhibition held in Louvre in 2013. The starting point of the project was the Portrait of Maddoiselle Caroline Rivière By Ingres, whose face then goes together to Slow Motion to that of the singer. Looking for a powerful counterpoint for the new vitality of the young man, the choice of today’s artist fell on the Head of San Giovanni Battista From Solario, used to represent a metamorphosis with the face of the pop star.