Jenny Saville in Florence: A Renaissance Legacy

By Dean Gregory, to Museum Spotlight Europe (November 2021)

Jenny Saville in Florence: A Renaissance Legacy

The historic city of Florence, Italy features a special exhibition of the contemporary British painter Jenny Saville until February 20, 2022. A milestone in Saville’s career, her paintings and drawings are juxtaposed with the Renaissance masters, like Michelangelo, across five esteemed museums. Visitors of the exhibition experience the unique vision of Neo-expressionism via the splendor of the historic.
The art museums Museo Novecento, Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Museo degli Innocenti, and Museo di Casa Buonarroti, act as backdrops for showcasing the contemporary works of Saville. Rooted in a meticulous study and abstract expression of the human body, Saville’s approach of the nude study echoes masters such as Peter Paul Rubens and Lucien Freud.
Continue reading to learn about Saville’s life-long career and the five museums in Florence, which illuminate the rich history and cultural splendor of the Renaissance capital. All participating museums are located within the Florentine city centre; access them easily on foot, by taxi or via public transportation.

Who is Jenny Saville?

Many critics consider Saville to be a successor to the School of London painters: Freud, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, and Frank Auerbach. Saville cultivates a unique style, which transcends rigid interpretations of figurative painting, abstraction, informalism and expressionism. Her signature approach to oil painting typically portrays large, fleshy women, which she refined during her time at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Saville implicates herself in her work with self-portraits rendering her own body.
Born in Cambridge, England in 1970, Saville, under the patronage of the collector Charles Saatchi, emerged to international prominence in the 1990s, along with other British figures like Damien Hirst. Having spent years living abroad in Sicily, where she further absorbed the rich culture of the ancient Mediterranean, she now resides and works in Oxford, England.

Museo Novecento

The exhibit in Museo Novecento features paintings and drawings created over the last 20 years. Highlights of the show include Rosetta II (2005-06), which depicts a young blind woman positioned above the altar. The piece forges a dialogue with a wood cross by Giotto, suspended in the center of the nave of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. Dedicated to 20th-century art, the museum opened in 2014 and pivots on a collection of works from various donors, along with works by De Chirico, Morandi and Casorati.

Museo di Palazzo Vecchio

At the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, visitors have the opportunity to experience Saville’s monumental piece Fulcrum (1998–99). The painting established her as a significant contemporary painter during its 1999 debut at the Gagosian Gallery in New York. Fulcrum is displayed in the Salone delle Battaglie with Michelangelo’s sculpture Genius of Victory and Vincenzo de’ Rossi’s piece Labors of Hercules. A landmark in the city of Florence, the Palazzo Vecchio operates as the town hall of the metropolis, and stands adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria and is within a few steps of the renowned Uffizi Gallery as well as Cellini’s signature sculpture of Perseus with the Head of Medusa.

Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

Enjoy a scenic walk from the Palazzo Vecchio to the charming, historic center of Florence, where guests will arrive at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. The Duomo, or main Cathedral of Florence, took approximately 150 years to construct and remains a hallmark architectural achievement of the Italian Renaissance. Walking inside, Saville’s drawing hangs above Michelangelo’s Bandini Pietà (The Deposition). Michelangelo’s sculpture renders the Virgin Mary holding the dead corpse of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Saville’s drawing measures approximately three meters in height and originated after her visit to Florence.

Museo degli Innocenti

Museo degli Innocenti’s building was designed by the esteemed Renaissance engineer Brunelleschi. At the Museo degli Innocenti, Saville’s enormous painting, The Mothers (2011), portrays the intensity and unpredictability of motherhood. Her painting is juxtaposed with Madonna and Child by Luca della Robbia and Botticelli’s Madonna and Child with an Angel. Saville’s painting Byzantium (2018) is also included in the exhibit.

Museo di Casa Buonarroti

Museo di Casa Buonarroti concludes Saville’s feature, displaying pastel drawings, like Compass (2013) and Aleppo (2017-18). Saville’s drawings, Study for Pietà I and Mother and Child Study II, reference Michelangelo’s sketches. Her drawings are juxtaposed next to Michelangelo’s Mother with Child to heighten the provocative nature of her work.

Another Museum to Consider

In addition to these five museums in Florence, visit Archaeological Museum of Florence, which features a rich collection of Egyptian art. In fact, the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti cites this institution as fundamental in cultivating his signature approach.

Cover Image: Fulcrum (1999), on display in the Palazzo Vecchio. Photo by Jenny Saville/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Clara Vannucci for The New York Times.