Phoenix Art Museum’s Florentine Baroque art exhibit

Florentine Baroque: The Haukohl Collection presents more than 30 examples of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts drawn from the most important Florentine Baroque art collection outside of Italy. This collection features historically significant works from 17th and 18th-century Florence that are rarely seen outside of Italy.

The exhibition features gilded paintings and delicate sculptures that demonstrate the distinctive Florentine Baroque style, known for its poetic and colorful symbolism. The collection has been assembled over more than 40 years by Houston-based art collector and co-founder of the Medici Archive Project Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl.

The rare display of works also provides the opportunity to examine the legacy of the House of Medici. The Medici Bank was founded in 1397 and for hundreds of years was the largest bank in Europe.

Florentine Baroque is organized into three distinct thematic sections. Faith, Strength, and Courage features depictions of Biblical narratives and religious figures that reference the dominant Catholic faith in Florence as well as the Renaissance interest in humanism, a classical movement that emphasized human values. Sacred Beauty, Fierce Devotion showcases portraits of saints, but unlike previous generations of artists, works by featured 17th-century painters represent these pious figures as distinctly human rather than divine, with naturalistic forms, expressions, and mannerisms. Finally, Allegory, Gods, and Heroes presents mythological and allegorical figures and stories that reflect the intellectual, artistic, and moral ideals of the time, which was characterized by significant advancements in music, philosophy, science, and all the humanities.

Rachel S. Zebro, Associate Curator of Collections, Phoenix Art Museum, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the limited-time exhibit and more of what it has to offer.