The routes of the International Gothic style between the Apennines and the Adriatic.
The period included between the end of the 14th Century and the mid 15th Century, defined as
International Gothic, marks one of the most significant moments in the history of European art.
A common figurative style was shared in France, Bohemia, Lombardy, and the Emilia and Marche Regions.
Gentile is universally acknowledged as the greatest interpreter of that artistic culture and his strong mark can also be seen in works of art by the Salimbeni brothers, Ottaviano Nelli, Olivuccio di Ceccarello, Arcangelo di Cola and the other maestros who made the lesson he taught famous from the Apennines to the Adriatic.
Therefore there is eve greater emotion experienced following an itinerary in the lands of the seigniories that between the 14th and 15th Centuries governed the greatest cities n the Marche Region, by then extremely important commercial centres. Like the Chiavellis in Fabriano, elsewhere power was in the hands of the Malatesta, Montefeltro, Da Varano, and the Smeducci families…
Proud warriors and mercenaries, but also men of culture, they were sensitive to the new courtly style as well as being the protectors of the arts and of religious orders
We owe to their shrewd desires and commissions the urban nuclei of many historical centres and some excellent art cities in the Marche Region. This is a cultural legacy that has today become the destination for another kind of tourism compared to the sort crowding more famous locations.
Fabriano and the exhibition on Gentile therefore become the ideal starting point for then travelling towards Urbino, Ancona, towards Camerino and San Severino Marche and Fermo, to discover treasures that are at times hidden but are of extraordinary beauty.
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