Amsterdam showing for Perth’s prized piece
City gallery’s painting loaned to famous museum
One of Perth Museum and Art Gallery’s most prized paintings is on show in the national museum of the Netherlands, Amsterdam’s famous Rijksmuseum.
‘Christ Displaying His Wounds’ by the Italian master painter Giacomo Galli is usually seen in pride of place in the main hall of Perth Museum.
For many decades museum visitors have admired the oil painting. It was gifted to the collection in 1861 by a local gentleman, William MacDonald of St Martins.
It is one of a small but fascinating collection of ‘old master’ paintings, acquired during the 19th century and is part of the fine art collection belonging to Perth and Kinross which has been recognised by the Scottish Government for its national importance.
Before Perth Museum was founded, it was owned by its predecessor, the Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perth.
Right now though, the arresting image of Christ showing the viewer how he lives, despite the wounds of his crucifixion, has been enlarged to cover part of the Rijksmuseum’s enormous brick facade.
It is hanging inside the grand building, part of an exhibition ‘Caravaggio – Bernini: Baroque in Rome’, celebrating the Baroque era with a number of paintings by the internationally celebrated ‘light and dark’ artist, Caravaggio.
At the Dutch display of ‘old masters’, there are some incredible artworks on show including Caravaggio’s ‘Boy Bitten by a Lizard’, which is the painting flanking Galli’s painting on the hoarding outside of the Rijksmuseum.
The exhibition opened on February 14 and runs until June 7.
After the trip across the sea, the painting will be returning to its original location in the museum.
Gillian Findlay, interim head of museum and galleries, said: “At Culture Perth and Kinross we are thrilled that this beautiful and intriguing work is getting the international attention and acclaim it so richly deserves.
“Galli’s ‘Christ Displaying His Wounds’ is the most wonderful painting.
“The picture is thought to be the work of an Italian artist and is considered exceptional for the quality of the treatment of the drapery, and for the particular viewpoint which the artist has adopted, involving the viewer directly with the risen Christ”.
Over the last few years, the profile of this painting has been rising significantly and it has been requested for loan by other museums and galleries as far afield as Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Utrecht, and Munich.
Prior to going up in Amsterdam, it has already been displayed in the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna, where 340,000 visitors viewed the exhibition over a three month period.