Parkes, Australia. The National Gallery of Australia presented the first ever exhibition in Australia dedicated to Renaissance paintings. There had never been an exhibition in Australia that had included fifteenth-century Italian art. The exhibition titled Renaissance – 15th & 16th Century Italian Paintings from the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, opened on 9 December 2011 and continues till 9 April, 2012. Renaissance, which represents some of the most famous names in the history of art, is an unparalleled opportunity for Australians to see works of extraordinary quality created by masters of the Early and High Renaissance period without having to travel overseas. The exhibition features more than 70 paintings including works by Italian masters such as Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini, Titian and Mantegna. The talents of the lesser known painters such as Tura, Crivelli, Lotto, Vivarini, Carpaccio, Perugino and Moroni are also being discovered by the visitors. None of the works in the exhibition has ever left Europe before.

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of Italian art are the foundation of the grand tradition of European painting. The paintings originated from cities and courts of Renaissance high culture. Religious scenes as well as magnificent portraits were commissioned by the Church and private patrons in Venice, Florence, Bergamo, Padua, Ferrara and Siena. The Renaissance exhibition provides the visitors with an interesting view of the beliefs and lifestyles of both the elite and the common Italian citizen of the period. Some of the paintings in this exhibition are originally sizeable church altarpieces, which have rarely been seen in Australia, but the majority of the paintings are intimate devotional panels specially made for private use. This unique show allows the visitors to enjoy the beauty of these 500 year old works.

The National Gallery of Australia has organised the exhibition in partnership with the City of Bergamo and its Pinacoteca Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.