RESTORATIONS

The exhibition on the the Dukes of Mantua's "museum" was also an opportunity to carry out important conservation and restoration interventions on some works traced by researchers in public museums or private collections, such as tiles in this kaleidoscopic mosaic.
Among the most significant interventions, the restoration of the cycle of paintings by the Roman painter Giovanni Baglione, depicting Apollo and the Nine Muses, should be mentioned.
The works, now owned by the Louvre but on deposit at the Musée de Beaux Arts in Arras, were made for Ferdinand and placed in the Camerino delle Muse, in the Duke's Apartment, between 1640 and 1644.
After that date, indeed, Baglione's paintings took the road to Paris, donated by the 6th Duke to his aunt Maria de 'Medici, Queen of France, who wanted to place them in the antechamber of the Luxembourg Palace, a new and personal royal residence, just before of the room set up by Rubens. A "diplomatic" operation that had great success and that brought Ferdinand's fame to the stars as a patron and collector of works of art, confirming the international prestige of the Gonzaga collection, so much so as to urge the shrewd Cardinal Richielieu to request for himself some "excellent picture".
Meanwhile Ferdinando commissioned Baglione to another series of paintings (now lost) to replace the previous one, demonstrating that the theme corresponded to a precise iconographic project by him.

The original series of nine paintings by the Roman painter will now return to Mantua after the conservation intervention supported by the Municipality of Mantua and the Municipality of Arres and will be exhibited in a special "dressing room" to once again enjoy the suggestions of the entire cycle.

Another work by Giovanni Baglione has been the subject, thanks to this exhibition and the studies that have accompanied it, of an important restoration that will allow it to be admired in its newfound splendor: The Allegory of Peace and Justice.

True manifesto of Ferdinand's government policy, placed by the Duke in the prestigious Galleria della Mostra, the work - signed and dated 1644 and therefore created by the Roman painter during his stay in Mantua - comes from Kensington Palace in London and was restored after having been brought back to work no. 890 of the inventory 1646 - 1647, thanks to the contribution of Telecom Italia

Finally, among the various interventions, the restoration of the work that is the "guide" image of this exhibition deserves a special mention: the Portrait of Vìncenzo I standing, made by Frans Pourbous around 1606 - 1607. Now in a private Mantuan collection, the painting according to the reconstruction carried out by Raffaella Morselli, was to be placed in a prominent position in the Gonzaga museum: in the Galleria della Mostra.
Masterful for the rendering of details and for the majestic layout, the work shows a proud Vincenzo, wearing the Golden Fleece given to him by the King of Spain in 1588 and the corset with the Sic company, adopted in 1595 at the time. of the expedition against the Turks.
In the background, his Palazzo Ducale cloaked in an evening light that degrades into the lake.