In 2017, on the last page of an edition of Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ printed in Venice in 1497 by Pietro de ‘Quarenghi and kept at the Fisher Library of the University of Sydney, a handwritten annotation was discovered placed above a red chalk sketch of a “Madonna with child” which could be by the Italian Renaissance artist Giorgione. The inscription reads:
‘A dì 17 setenbrio morì Zorzo(n) da Castelo francho d’peste fintore excelentisimo in Venezia de anni 36 & requiese in pace’ (On 17 September Giorgione of Castelfranco, a very excellent artist, died of the plague in Venice at the age of 36 and he rests in peace.)
The discovery of an original drawing by Giorgione in Australia could provide new insights into the life of the well-known Venetian painter.
In this regard, the Italian Department at the University of Sydney and the Fisher Library, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney, are organizing a seminar on February 22 to investigate certain aspects of the discovery.
After an introduction by Professor Jaynie Anderson, one of Australia’s leading experts on Giorgione’s paintings, archaeologist and historian Salvatore Settis will on ‘Doppie verità? Serie stilistica/documentaria, datazione relativa/assoluta’ (”Double Truths?
Stylistic/documentary series; relative/absolute dating”), and paleologist Giulia Ammannati with a lecture entitled ‘La mano della nota Sydney sulla morte di Giorgione: prime ipotesi’ (“The hand of the Sydney note on the death of Giorgione: initial hypotheses”). The seminar, moderated by Prof. Francesco Borghesi, director of the Italian department of the University of Sydney, will also be attended by Lillo Guarneri, director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney, Philip Kent, director of the Fisher Library, as well as other scholars, including John Gagné and Nerida Newbegin.
The seminar will be held on the Zoom platform. Reservations are required on Eventbrite.
More information at iicsydney.esteri.it