The Other Renaissance: Spanish Artists in Naples in the Early Cinquecento

Naples has often been seen as secondary to the great Renaissance centres of Rome and Florence, but the city developed its own thriving artistic community of Italian and Spanish artists, as this exhibition at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid attests (18 October–29 January 2023). Focusing on the period from 1504–35, the show explores how a generation of Iberian artists, including the likes of Pedro Fernández, Diego de Sileo and Bartolomé Ordóñez, drew influence from masters such as Leonardo and Raphael, while also defining a distinctive Neapolitan style. Highlights include Pedro Machuca’s Virgin and the Spirits of Purgatory – an idiosyncratic depiction of the story of the Nursing Madonna by an artist best known for his architectural work on the palace of Charles V inside the Alhambra in Granada. Find out more on the Prado’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Virgin and the Spirits of Purgatory (1517), Pedro Machuca. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Altarpiece of Saint Elena Pedro Fernández and Antoni Norri (1519–21). Cathedral of Giron

Holy Family with Raphael, Tobias and Saint Jerome (Virgin of the Fish) (1512–13), Raphael

Saint Sebastian Diego de Siloe (1525), Barbadillo de Herreros