Gaetano Previati
Dalla mistica della Via Crucis alla sinfonia dei Notturni
Edizioni Musei Vaticani
August 2021
Gaetano Previati
From the mysticism of “Via Crucis” to the symphony of "Notturni" (T.N.)
The volume, conceived in the occasion of the centenary of Previati’s death, presents to the public the results of researches conducted by important scholars: Fernando Mazzocca, Sergio Rebora, Elisabetta Staudacher and Monica Vinardi.
The performed study and work involved also several areas of the Museums, first of all the Department of XIX Century and Contemporary Art, with the in-depth historical-artistic studies carried out by Micol Forti and Rosalia Pagliarani. The 14 stations of the Via Crucis (1901-1902), Georgica (1905), and the Notturno or Clair de lune (1908) have been aim of an exemplary restoration and of a series of diagnostic analysis. They unveiled the secrets of the unique painting technique of Previati, considered one of the most original Italian painters over two centuries. The extraordinary strength of a visual, new, dynamic language comes to light, a language marked by a narrative time that seems to anticipate the perceptual modalities of filmmaking.
The text is enriched by an extensive set of illustrations, integrated with 24 colour tables, with splendid details and full page views of the Vatican works, after restoration.