The Estense Gallery consists of sixteen exhibition rooms with four large salons arranged thematically. The collection houses an eclectic range of oeuvres executed by both notable and local artists. Although for the most part centred around
Italian painters, it also includes a modest number of
Flemish,
German and
French artworks (Workshop of
van Eyck;
Aelbrecht Bouts;
Charles Le Brun), as well as non-Western examples from
Sierra Leone and
Iran. Among the decorative objects of note, the mannerist "Estense Harp" stands out. A rare musical instrument, the double harp's 148 cm were crafted entirely by hand through a collaboration between five Ferrarese and Flemish artists:
Giacometti,
Marescotti,
Bastarolo,
Rosselli and
Lamberti. It then comes as no surprise that it featured on Italian 1,000
lire banknotes next to
Verdi from 1961 to 1981. The gallery also houses a
Madonna and Child and a
Telamon by the Modenese sculptor
Wiligelmo, an 18th-century coral nativity scene and a still-life carved in wood celebrating the ascension of
James II of England.
Crucifixion and oval ceiling panels from
Virginia de Medici's apartment in Ferrara with
Galli's carved string instruments and
Grandi's Carrara marble harpsichord.
History Cesare I In 1598, the Este dukes were forced to yield their seat of Ferrara to
Pope Clement VIII and the capital of the dukedom was relocated to Modena. Duke
Cesare tried to bring with him as much of the Este inheritance as possible, including many cases full of rare and precious objects. As for the remaining works in Ferrara, Cesare, who was perhaps not as fond of art patronage as his ancestors, did not hesitate to donate large parts of the collection to seek favour with powerful political figures, notably the
Cardinal Borghese and
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Francesco I Francesco I, successor of
Alfonso III, was a man of great ambition. He was determined to both regain Ferrara and restore the artistic atmosphere characteristic of the Ferrarese court in Modena. For the new capital of the diminished Duchy of Modena and Reggio, he envisioned an imposing ducal residence, entrusting the project to
Bartolomeo Avanzini. The Roman architect was advised by
Bernini, whose engagement with the Pope prevented him from accepting the task. bust of
Francesco I d'Este, widely considered a seminal example of
Baroque portraiture, cornerstones the first and second rooms displaying Greco-Roman antiquities, followed by altarpieces and polychromy from the fourteenth century.|alt=During a diplomatic trip to
Spain, Francesco had
his portrait painted by
Diego Velázquez, a work which remains a precious treasure of the Estense collection. An equally revered
marble portrait executed by
Bernini now welcomes viewers entering the gallery. Not only does it effortlessly capture the duke's likeness and
bravura, Bernini also never once laid eyes on his subject in the flesh, using effigies by
Justus Sustermans and
Jean Boulanger as prompts instead. To overcome the reluctance of the sculptor, who in a letter to the duke's brother,
Cardinal Rinaldo, judged the task as not only extremely difficult but reckless, an exorbitant sum of 3000
scudi was offered, the exact amount paid to Bernini by the
Pope Innocent X for his
Four Rivers Fountain in Rome. Thus, in July 1746, works by
Giulio Romano,
Andrea del Sarto,
Rubens,
Velázquez,
Holbein,
Titian,
Parmigianino,
Correggio,
Guercino,
Guido Reni,
Carracci, and many others embarked for
Dresden. Such works may still be admired in the
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister today. Neither was
Rinaldo I, his uncle and successor, able to enrich the duchy artistically. On 17 October, 94 volumes were chosen to be transferred from the ducal library to the
Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, including numerous manuscripts and ancient codices. Napoleon personally took two 16th to 18th-century editions of
Caesar's
Commentarii whilst rapidly passing through Modena. As for the collection of coins, the Bibliothèque received 900 imperial bronze coins, 124 of which were from Roman colonies; 10 silver; 31 incised; as well as 44 Greek and 103 from the Papal mint. Napoleon's wife
Joséphine followed suite. During her sojourn in Modena's Palazzo Ducale in February 1797, she was unsatisfied with merely 'looking at' the numismatic collection. The empress took about two hundred, in addition to those selected by the court members of her husband who accompanied her. Numerous paintings of the Emilian school such as
Guercino’s altarpiece depicting Modena’s patron saints (1651) and his
St. Paul (1644), as well as
The Purification of the Virgin by
Guido Reni,
The Virgin Appears to Saints Luke and Catherine (1592) by
Annibale Carracci,
The Dream of Job (1593) by
Cigoli,
The Mocking of Christ by
Giambologna and others never returned. It is estimated that 1,300 pictures were exported to the Louvre.
Restoration From his exile in
Treviso,
Ercole III sold various objects he had brought with him, but he also made some additions to his collection, in an attempt to remedy the Napoleonic plundering. With the restoration of Duke
Francis IV of Austria-Este in Modena and the
Treaty of Paris (1815) came the recovering of many important works. Only 21 paintings previously part of the Estense collection returned to Modena, in addition to two new paintings acquired as remuneration by
Charles Le Brun. On the backdrop of the Church's diminishing status came the growing trend for art collection as a means of upholding the local authority of the nobility. Francis IV thus contributed works to the gallery from nearby towns through the tried and tested Este method of looting churches. In 1822, a newfound interest in early Italian "Primitive" paintings prompted the acquisitions from the rich collection of Marquis
Tommaso degli Obizzi, including works by
Barnaba da Modena,
Apollonio di Giovanni,
Bartolomeo Bonascia and
Francesco Bianchi Ferrari. His son
Francis V also made some new purchases and reopened the gallery relocated during the reign of his father to the Palazzo Ducale.
From 1859 to today With the unification of Italy in 1859, the Este line came to an end. During the transition there were inevitably some losses and thefts.
Luigi Carlo Farini, reigning dictator over the Modenese provinces on behalf of the new
Italian government, was accused by some of having appropriated valuables kept in the Palazzo Ducale in which he and his government resided, although it is as of yet unclear on what grounds such allegations were made. In 1879, the palace became the headquarters of the
Military Academy, depriving the city of its use. The gallery was forced to relocate to the eighteenth-century palace built by
Francesco III, now known as the
Palazzo dei Musei, where it coexists with the
Lapidary Museum, the Civic Museum and Archives on the ground floor and the
Estense library on the third floor. The gallery's itinerary has undergone several rearrangements over the years, with the curation of the rooms remaining in a constant state of revision. A notably recent change occurred following the earthquake in May 2012. After a three-year renovation period, it was reopened to the public in 2015. Never-before-seen works were retrieved from storage, new lighting and a microclimate system supporting the conservation of exhibits and digital displays were installed, ensuring the Estense Gallery remains a nucleus of culture to both locals and tourists travelling off the beaten track on their way from Venice to Rome. == Collection ==