Description
An exceptional painting on canvas of the early 16th century enhances the collections of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio of Alessandria. It depicts St. Gregroy the Great in papal robes, and was originally the panel of a polyptych. It was painted by Defendente Ferrari from Chivasso (1490?-1540) making vast use of gold for the background and showing a great sensitivity for pearls and gems. He was a student of Martino Spanzotti and protagonist of the full Renaissance period in Piedmont.

There are plenty of similarities in the technique, style, and iconography with the painting of St. Augustine already possessed by the Fondazione, and attributed to Defendente, that legitimate a purchase which enriches the knowledge of art in Piedmont during a true golden era of its history, as demonstrated by the recent exhibition of sculpted Alessandria.
Saint Augustine and Saint Gregory belonged to the same polyptych of which they represent the only pieces recognised to date. Seeing them next to one another is a one-off opportunity to reason on the attribution and to grasp the precious and delicate passages through which the painting of the artist transcended from Gothic to Modernity.

For this reason, the Fondazione offers a rare exhibition-dossier of just two works, in which the masterpieces will be set next to each other in the exhibition space on the ground floor of the Broletto, starting from Saturday 20 November. Free admission will also allow to visit the painting gallery of the Foundation, which presents a selection of the most representative works of the 19th and 20th century. But if the last two centuries and the area of Alessandria are traditionally at the centre of the cultural politics of the Foundation, a hidden campaign of acquisitions which is still underway is also geared to representing art in Piedmont from the 15th century to the 18th century, from Giovanni Mazone to Moncalvo, from Giuseppe Vermiglio to Pierfrancesco Guala, from Bernardino Lanino, to Defendente Ferrari.