ARTE E NATURA
Painting on stone between 16th and 17th centuries

From October 10, 2025, to January 6, 2026, Accademia Carrara presents ARTE E NATURA, an exhibition curated by Patrizia Cavazzini in collaboration with Maria Luisa Pacelli, dedicated to painting on stone during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Originating with Sebastiano del Piombo around the years of the infamous Sack of Rome in 1527, the practice of painting on stone explores the fascinating relationship between nature and artifice, between subject and material: where does human intervention end and nature’s influence begin? How does the surface itself contribute to the meaning of the work?

A new and challenging technique, painting on stone offered the illusion of greater durability compared to canvas, positioning itself as a medium worthy of consideration in the age-old debate between painting and sculpture.

The Bergamo exhibition invites visitors to discover this little-known chapter in art history, revealing the potential of a material that, since the dawn of time, has inspired values of moral strength and faith, exercised alchemical seductions, embodied symbols and metaphors, and aspired to eternity.

From Rome to Florence, from Genoa to the Veneto, this technique – loved but gradually abandoned over just more than a century – involved artists featured in the exhibition, including Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Bassano, Palma il Giovane, Antonio Tempesta, Salvator Rosa, and extending to Orazio Gentileschi and Lavinia Fontana.

The exhibition is part of a broader program exploring the relationship between art and nature, initiated by Paolo Chiasera’s dual intervention Orti tintori and complemented by Accademia Carrara’s first exhibition dedicated to young audiences: Arte e Natura Kids, a project transforming artworks, materials, and surfaces into opportunities for discovery and experimentation.