Masterpieces

This sculpture depicts Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera, as she serves nectar to the gods. Its beauty embodies the canonical ideals that experimentalists sought to capture between the 18th and 19th centuries: her ethereal face, the fluid lines of the garments that outline and caress her body, and the graceful gesture of her arm holding the amphora are in harmony with the elegant motion of this young woman, who almost seems to float. The pure white plaster cast from 1798 is considered to be one of the most singular works of Venice-based artist Antonio Canova. It was the original model for the statue and was used to make the first 2 marble figures. These are now kept at the National Gallery in Berlin and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The 2 other 1808 versions of Hebe (one in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House and the other at the Pinacoteca Comunale gallery in Forlì) are different mainly in their support structures, since the artificial cloud has been replaced with a simple tree trunk.

Pompeo Marchesi is considered the Lombard heir to the sculptor Antonio Canova, to whom he paid tribute throughout his long career as an artist, with these references and idealist allusions evoking some of the Venetian master's finest works. The 2 met and visited each other during Canova's stay in Rome between 1804 and 1808, when the young artist from Como created Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, from which Marchesi drew inspiration for his image of Venus. This later work, also known as the "Erotic Venus," is one of the variations of the 1826 Venus Pudica. However, it differs in its more provocative pose and attitude (the bust and breasts were partially concealed by a sheet in the first version) and by the presence of a net. This is a reference to a Homeric episode that describes Vulcan's discovery of Venus' betrayal with Mars, both harnessed to the marital bed by an invisible net that he positioned there in order to catch them in the act.

Presented at the inaugural Triennale di Milano exhibition in 1891, alongside Maternity by Gaetano Previati, The Two Mothers is one of Segantini's most celebrated and talked-about works, which firmly established the revolutionary new technique known as Divisionism. This genre scene, which is traditional only in appearance, represents the first step in Segantini's progression towards a so-called "painting of ideas." The woman with the baby, and the cow with her calf, are elevated to serve as universal symbols of motherhood. The studied effect of artificial light, shown in the rendering of the lantern-lit stable, gives this humble scene an intensity that could only be achieved with the Divisionist technique. Inspired by a profound and sincere sense of rigorously objective and impartial observation (influenced by the Italian "verismo" movement), this naturalism is captured through thread-like brushstrokes of divided color, with pure color applied directly to the canvas. Meanwhile, a more traditional technique can be seen in the earthy tones. The final effect is a work whose meaning goes beyond the surface of reality, aspiring to represent a universal image of the origins of life.

This piece chronicles an evening celebration experienced by Giuseppe De Nittis during his stay in Naples, between the end of 1878 and the spring of 1879. Critics agree on this date, ascribing it to the painter's return to Naples after the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878. Naples can be easily recognized from the backdrop, where Cape Posillipo and Palazzo Donn'Anna can be made out. The painter Edoardo Dalbono also described meetings between De Nittis and other artist friends on a terrace overlooking the gulf, where the evening's discussions about art would alternate with singing to the accompaniment of guitar. Who the figures are is more controversial—only the identity of De Nittis' wife Léontine, who appears at the center, is certain. The man and woman seated on the right have been recognized as Edoardo Dalbono and his wife, Adele, and several names have been put forward for the pair of bearded men. This ambiguity also stems from the fact that, according to some critics, they are not drawn from reality, but are references to French painting. In fact, the painting is considered a symbol of De Nittis' relationship with Manet's work. We know that the painting, which was unfinished and considered a minor work at the time, was brought to Paris by De Nittis. It remained there at his atelier until his death, at which point it was left to his widow, Léontine. After passing between several owners, it was purchased by Carlo Grassi, who donated it to the collections of the GAM in his will. 

In 1911, the sculptor Adolfo Wildt had left behind 19th-century plastic modeling and was engaged in a complex revival of ancient sculpture, revitalizing it with the most advanced artistic trends of that time. One of his works from this period, which has unfortunately been lost, is "Vir Temporis Acti" (Ancient Man): a figure of a soldier who has struck himself with a staff, as a symbol of self-inflicted pain, and the redemption and nobility of sacrifice. In this artwork, the powerful memory of Michelangelo's sculpture and the ancient nudes that Wildt loved to admire in the halls of the Brera Academy is brought to life, with decorative Secessionist-style details and a sense of lively, expressive pathos. Created for his German patron, Franz Rose, and destroyed during World War II, Wildt used this marble statue to isolate and recreate the details of the face several times (as in this sculpture), to convey an even stronger sense of pain that is at once remotely archaic and utterly contemporary. This work ends the journey through the GAM, forming an ideal bridge to the anxieties of the 20th century.