Gold in Art from the Middle Ages to Today: A Dialogue Across Centuries in Perugia

The exhibition 'L’età dell’oro' at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria in Perugia, curated by Alessandra Mammì, Veruska Picchiarelli, and Carla Scagliosi, runs until January 19, 2025. It juxtaposes medieval gold-ground works by artists such as Duccio di Boninsegna, Gentile da Fabriano, and the Maestro di San Francesco with contemporary pieces by Carla Accardi, Alberto Burri, Yves Klein, Andy Warhol, and others. The show, under the patronage of the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education, explores gold as a symbol of power, mysticism, and transcendence across nine centuries. A preview was held at the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro in Venice during the 60th Venice Biennale. Director Costantino D’Orazio aims to reinterpret the museum's collection of 'primitives' and gold-ground works, which he considers comparable to those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Vatican Museums. Scientific analysis on Gustav Klimt's 'Le tre età' (The Three Ages of Woman), on loan from the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, revealed the presence of silver, gold, and platinum leaf and powders, confirming the work as a 'jewel painting'. The research was conducted by CNR institutes and the University of Perugia.