Travellers who visit Italy in search of art typically arrive in Florence, Rome or Venice, but they fly right over one of the best-kept secrets of Italian art: the wealth of amazing frescoes to be found in the region of Piedmont. In the Republic of Florence - cradle of the Renaissance – Brunelleschi’s discovery of perspective and a hothouse studio system drove artists on to compete in a relentless search for the ‘new’, but to the north, in feudal Piedmont, influences came from France, and further afield, to create a very regional style where the Medieval Gothic lingered on in religious art. Local itinerant artists decorated parish churches and tiny chapels with vibrant scenes that blaze with colour.
Sometimes though, the powerful nobles of the region commissioned art of an elegance, quality and complexity to match anything that Florence could offer, but of a totally different style.
This is the art to be found in Piedmont: at the foot of the mountain.
Sometimes though, the powerful nobles of the region commissioned art of an elegance, quality and complexity to match anything that Florence could offer, but of a totally different style.
This is the art to be found in Piedmont: at the foot of the mountain.
