Exploring Medieval Bologna at the Frist
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Freed from the Wheel, Pseudo Pier Francesco Fiorentino, c. 1325-30, tempera and gold leaf on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection.
In the coming months, the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, will open a new exhibition, supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Medieval Bologna: Art for a University City is the first major museum exhibition in the United States to focus on medieval art made in the northern Italian city of Bologna. The exhibition explores how Bologna, home to the oldest university in Europe, became a prominent producer of manuscripts and helped bring about a revolution in the medieval book trade.
The Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdelene, Saint John the Evangelist, and a Female, Jacapo di Paolo, c. 1400, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection.
This exhibition features nearly 70 objects – namely illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures – spanning from 1230 to 1400, including select Kress Collection works. These objects have been pulled from prominent libraries, private collections, and museums from around the United States, such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Morgan Library & Museum, and the National Gallery of Art.
Medieval Bologna will run from November 5, 2021 through January 30, 2022. For more information about the exhibition and catalog, please visit https://fristartmuseum.org/exhibition/medieval-bologna-art-for-a-university-city/.