METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS 'ITALY OBSERVED: VIEWS AND SOUVENIRS, 1706-1899'

IN THE 18th CENTURY, PRIVILEGED EUROPEANS EMBARKED ON THE GRAND TOUR, TRAVELING PRINCIPALLY TO SITES IN ITALY, WHERE THEY VISITED CHERISHED RUINS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD AND SPLENDID ARCHITECTURE OF THE RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE ERAS. THE INFLUX OF THESE TRAVELERS TO DESTINATIONS NORTH AND SOUTH, VENICE, ROME, AND NAPLES IN PARTICULAR, LED TO A FLOWERING OF TOPOGRAPHICAL PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS BY NATIVE ITALIANS SERVING A FOREIGN MARKET EAGER TO RETURN HOME WITH PICTURES AND SOUVENIRS. ITALY OBSERVED: VIEWS AND SOUVENIRS, 1706-1899, CURRENTLY ON VIEW AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, THROUGH 2.JANUARY, SHOWCASES A SELECTION OF THE RICH HOLDINGS OF ITALIAN VEDUTE (VIEWS) COLLECTED BY ROBERT LEHMAN. FROM THE PAINTINGS OF VENETIAN LIFE BY LUCA CARLEVARIS TO THE NEAPOLITAN ALBUM OF GOUACHE DRAWINGS DOCUMENTING THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS IN 1794 TO SKETCHES AND WATERCOLOURS OF ITALIAN ANTIQUITIES, THE INSTALLATION CAPTURES THE ARTIST'S ROMANTIC ATTRACTION TO ITALY AND ITS IRRESISTIBLE ROMAN HERITAGE. IT ALSO INCLUDE VARIOUS MARKETED SOUVENIRS, EXQUISITE FANS, SPOONS, TEAPOTS AND POCKET-WATCHES ON LOAN FROM THE MUSEUM'S DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN SCULPTURES AND DECORATIVE ARTS. ITALY OBSERVED IS DIVIDED INTO THREE SECTIONS: VENICE, ROME AND NAPLES. THE BRITISH ELITE CONSTITUTED THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF GRAND TOURISTS, AND THEIR FASCINATION WITH VENICE AND ITS SURROUNDING LANDSCAPES FUELED THE VEDUTE MARKET. ARTISTS LIKE LUCA CARLEVARIS, CANALETTO, BERNARDO BELLOTTO AND FRANCESCO GUARDI PRODUCED VEDUTE OF THE VENETIAN GRAND CANAL. IN ROME, WEALTHY ARISTOCRATS COMMISSIONED ARTISTS SUCH AS POMPEO BATONI TO PAINT THEIR PORTRAITS SURROUNDED BY IMAGERY OF THE COLISEUM, PALATINE HILL, SAINT PETER'S BASILICA AND OTHER EMBLEMATIC SOUVENIRS OF THE GRAND TOURIST CULTURE. WHILE THE PHENOMENON OF THE GRAND TOUR DECLINED DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WAR, DUE TO THE DANGERS OF TRAVEL ABROAD, ITALY CONTINUED TO PRODUCE FINE MEMENTOS OF ITS SPLENDID MONUMENTS RIGHT THROUGH THE 19th CENTURY, AND INDEED TO THIS VERY DAY.