Mannerism and the Northern Renaissance at the Art Institute of Chicago

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German), Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, c. 1529, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Workshop of Dieric Bouts (Netherlandish), Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowing Virgin), 1480/1500, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Jan Sanders van Hemessen (Netherlandish), Judith, c. 1540, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Jean Hey, known as the Master of Moulins (French), Fragments from Christ Carrying the Cross: Saint John the Evangelist and Mourning Virgin, 1500/05, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen and Workshop (Netherlandish), The Adoration of the Christ Child, c. 1515, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Jacopo da Pontormo (Italian), Alessandro de’ Medici, 1534/35, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Antonio Rimpatta (Italian), The Holy Family with Four Saints and a Female Donor, c. 1510, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Master M.Z. (German), Aristotle and Phyllis, c. 1500, engraving on paper. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Jean Hey, known as the Master of Moulins (French), The Annunciation, 1490/95, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Quentin Massys (Netherlandish), Portrait of a Man with a Pink, 1500–10, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Attributed to Alessandro Allori (Italian), Francesco de’ Medici, c. 1560, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Workshop of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Netherlandish), The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, c. 1520, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Agnolo Bronzino and workshop (Italian), Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist, c. 1530, oil on panel. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Stunning ceilings of Ferrara

Detail of the Treasure Room ceiling in Palazzo Costabili (aka, Palazzo di Ludovico il Moro), Ferrara. Fresco by Benvenuto Tisi, called il Garofalo, from 1506. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Italy has no shortage of richly painted ceilings (see previous posts about Florence, Siena, Ravenna, and Vicenza for examples), but these frescoed wonders seem especially concentrated in Ferrara, where several Renaissance-era palazzos have opened their doors as public museums. The result is an almost overwhelming presence of densely decorated interiors that compliment, and even compete with, the eye-level displays.

Mirror reflecting one of many frescoed ceilings in Castello Estense, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Ceiling of the Ducal Chapel in Castello Estense, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Ceiling in Palazzo Costabili (aka, Palazzo di Ludovico il Moro), Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Loggia degli Aranci (1560–70), Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Renaissance-Baroque interior of Chiesa di Santa Maria in Vado, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Castello Estense, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Detail of the Treasure Room ceiling in Palazzo Costabili (aka, Palazzo di Ludovico il Moro), Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Detail of a ceiling in Palazzo Costabili (aka, Palazzo di Ludovico il Moro), Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Palazzina Marfisa d'Este, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Chiesa di Santa Maria in Vado, Ferrara. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.