Museum Project

Mission

As one of the most well known movements in the art world, the Renaissance overshadows the rest of the art world. Mannerism emerged out of the Renaissance, with it’s own unique style and artists. My aim is to bring mannerist works out of the shadow and introduce those who might not have recognized Mannerism for what it is.  Comprising of works ranging from the end of the high Renaissance to the early 17^th century, Mannerism and its sophistication and artificial ideals of the human figure is something not to be overlooked.

 Madonna of the Long Neck, Parmigianino, 1535-40

Publicity

Admission is free, but donations are requested for guided tours. Sponsors would help support the museum, and allowed to advertise in the catalogue and be sold in a café or concessions stand associated with my museum. The café/concessions will generate revenue, but will not be the main source of income. A gift shop will sell trinkets, prints and postcards of the art in the museum, the aforementioned catalogue, and other odds and ends, ideally supporting local craftspeople.

Advertising would be done with television and radio commercials, fliers and postcard mailers. There will be fundraising events, including back-tie masquerade type parties for the more generous patrons, as well as more down to earth carnival style events geared towards families and schools.

Staff will include an Education Director in charge of school groups and the like, 3 volunteer tour guides knowledgeable of Mannerism and the periods before and after, retail workers, and maintenance workers with experience in handling art and knowledgeable in the workings of a museum or gallery. There will be a security specialist in every room.  Gardeners will be employed to keep the gardens in order.

Collection

The museum will display mostly mannerist paintings, but there will be sculpture as well. The collection will be divided by chronology and by medium, starting with mannerist works emerging from the Renaissance, and continuing through to the Baroque.  

Permanent Collection:

Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man (1490)Leda and the Swan (1507/8)

Fiorentino’s Deposition (1521) and Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro (1523)

 Pontormo’s Deposition from the Cross(1525-28) and Verumnus and Pomona (1520/21)

Other permanent collection artists include Raphael's Transfiguration (1520), Parmigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck (1535-40), Sarto's Madonna of the Harpies (1517), Correggio's Ganymede Abducted by the Eagle(1531-32), Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women (1574-82), Baccio Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus (1534), Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1545). 

Design

Interior: The works will displayed on high walls painted a stark white, lit from above. Visitors are welcome to wander through the exhibits freely, with low barriers with silent alarms to protect the works. Large openings will keep the rooms open and make flow from one room to the next easy.  Benches will be placed in the middle of the rooms to allow for rest and contemplation of the works.

Exterior: The building, from the outside, will be styled after the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy. There is an English garden in the back, modeled after the Borghese gardens, also in Rome.