From Raffaello to Schiele: the sublime in the unknown

Capolavori dal Museo di Belle Arti di Budapest
Palazzo Reale, Milano – untill 7 febbraio 2016

Visiting the halls of the Palazzo Reale, you see that there is a great variety of names in the gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. The acquisitions, over time, have been several and important, and the quality of the pieces is considerable. Just think of the number of Goya and El Greco owned by the city, and this fact makes you reflect on one point: the Hungarians were far-sighted, competent, courageous. Qualities that surely are missing to us Italians, too often oblivious to lose important masterpieces. But back to the exhibition, which presents food for thought: for example, in the interior, outstanding is the parade of formidable portraits. It starts from the enigmatic male face attributed to Durer, to arrive to the expressiveness of Salomè by Cranach. And what to say about San Giacomo by El Greco, described with metallics colors? Finally, one can not make a reference between the manly soldier by Leonardo and the curious yawning of the Hungarian Xaver. But exceptional is the merciless portrait of Liszt painted by a little known Munkácsy. It is appropriate to say that excellence has no boundaries.

Di Feliciano Marotta

Nella foto: Salomé di Cranach