From the dramatic to the decorative

By RICHARD GATE

The Italians: Three Centuries of Italian Art
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, until June 16;

Melbourne Museum, Melbourne, July 5-October 6.

This exhibition covers the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Representation is rather meagre of the leading figures of the High Renaissance, a slightly earlier period. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is represented by a study for the head of Christ in The Last Supper, Raphael (1483-1520) by an ink drawing of St Blaise and Michelangelo (1475-1564) by chalk studies for a male nude and the resurrection of Christ.

The exhibition's emphasis is on later developments, such as Mannerism, the anti-Mannerist movement led by Caravaggio and the Carracci, the Baroque and, lastly, the Rococo, exemplified by Tiepolo.

The Mannerist style is at its most vivid in Moses defending the daughters of Jethro (1523), by Rosso Fiorentino. The violent, crowded scene, the exaggerated physiques of the male characters and the almost Picasso quality of the female figures make it clear what it was that Caravaggio and the Carracci were rebelling against when they called for a return to realism and naturalism.

It is a relief to turn from the violence of Mannerism to the calmness and perfect proportions - and to the virtuoso treatment of the Saint's red cloak - of St John the Baptist as a Young Man (1606) by Caravaggio (1571-1610).

The exhibition contains works by two of the Carracci family who were, along with Caravaggio, the founders of the naturalist movement that reacted against Mannerism. Annibale (1569-1609) is represented by his St Margaret and Ludovico (1555-1610) by the Portrait of Countess Bentivoglio (c 1589).

The Baroque, which succeeded Mannerism, maintained the strong colours and contrasts of the latter but retained the natural and realist composition revived by Caravaggio and the Carracci. For me, the greatest of the baroque painters is the Bolognese, Guercino (1591-1666), represented by Et in Arcadia ego (1620) and the Martyrdom of St Lawrence. The latter, only recently rediscovered, reflects the emphasis in baroque art of the immediacy of religious experience, a doctrine that emerged in the Counter Reformation following the Council of Trent (1545-1563).

The same intense religious atmosphere pervades the Madonna with St Simon by Federico Barocci (1535-1612). Barocci's work, is nevertheless, not as violent or as sharply contrasted as other paintings of the High Baroque and the atmosphere of his work is much gentler, expressed in soft, pastel colours. Next to the Barocci painting is the beautiful Adoration of the Magi, by Antonio Corregio (1489-1534) who, working almost in isolation in Parma, anticipated the baroque style, with its colour contrasts and dramatic composition, by almost 100 years.

The most celebrated of the baroque artists was Bernini (1598-1680), who is better known as a sculptor and an architect than a painter. His Bust of Pope Clement X is one of his last works. It was left unfinished when the elderly Pope died in 1676 after only six years on the Papal throne. The Pope's right hand is still linked to his body and the spaces between his fingers have not been hollowed out.

The Baroque was followed by the Rococo with its emphasis on the decorative. The greatest of the Italian rococo painters, Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770), is represented by three works. Of these, the Cornaro Marriage Allegory (c 1722), which is owned by the Canberra Gallery, is by far the best.

Tiepolo's greatest feats are his brilliant use of perspective, his extraordinary ability to paint textures and his wonderful colour sense, enabling him to evoke vivid, deep colours even in darkest parts of his canvases.

Those who feel that Venetian art is the apex of the Italian achievement in this field will be delighted to see, from the golden age of Venetian painting, three works by Titian (1487-1576) of which the most appealing is the highly coloured Holy Conversation. Equally important, and of the highest quality, is his recently discovered portrait of the writer Pietro Aretino. Hardly less impressive is the Visitation (1588) from the School of San Rocco in Venice by Tintoretto (1518-95).

One of the major strengths of the exhibition is the inclusion of many works from the important, but less well known, regional schools. Thus, the two great masters of the Brescian school, Romanino (1484-1562) and Moretto (1498-1554) are represented by masterpieces, as are the artists of the prolific Neapolitan school, Stanzione (1585-1656), Mattia Preti (1613-99), Solimena (1657-1747), and Cavallino (1616-1656). Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) is represented by his Annunciation (1535) with its atmosphere of high comedy - the awkwardly muscular angel and the terrified kitten. The greatest of the Renaissance portrait painters, Moroni (1520-78), is represented by his magnificent Cavalier in Pink.

The Italian authorities describe this exhibition as the most important that has left Italy in the past 50 years. It contains many works which have only recently been discovered or are from private collections and rarely seen publicly.

Anyone interested in Italian painting cannot afford to miss it.