Almost the entire body of the artist’s paintings is on display for the first time
From 17 October 2026 to 17 January 2027, the Pilotta Monumental Complex in Parma is hosting the first monographic exhibition dedicated to Giorgio Gandini Del Grano (Parma, 1498–1538), one of the most fascinating and, at the same time, mysterious figures of the Emilian Renaissance.
Entitled Giorgio Gandini Del Grano: The Enigma of a Master in the Footsteps of Correggio and curated by Stefano L’Occaso, director of the Ducal Palace in Mantua, and Denis Ton, director of the Pilotta, with Stefania Girometti collaboration, the exhibition brings together for the first time the entire corpus of his known paintings, alongside a selection of his graphic works.
A leading figure in the 16th-century ‘Parma School’ – the group of painters regarded as followers of Correggio – Gandini Del Grano has long remained in the shadows due to the scarcity of records relating to his life, as well as the small number of his works that have survived to the present day.
The exhibition project, which includes the presentation of important new documentary material and the first monographic catalogue on the artist, brings together, in an exceptional display, all nine of Gandini Del Grano’s paintings considered by critics to be authentic.
In addition to the Altarpiece of St Michael, housed in the Pilotta, the exhibition also features the artist’s only other altarpiece, now at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, whilst the rest of his output consists of seven small-format works, scattered amongst public institutions and private collections: three are held in the National Gallery.
Biography
Giorgio Gandini Del Grano (Parma, 1498 – 1538) is now coming to the fore in a new light thanks to the recent discovery of archival documents attesting to his baptism in Parma in 1498, thereby definitively clearing up the uncertainties surrounding his birth. A refined painter of the high Emilian Renaissance, Gandini trained and lived in Parma’s vibrant artistic milieu, where he absorbed influences from Correggio and developed a taste for cultured and dynamic storytelling. His career was marked by major public and religious commissions during a brief period between 1528 and 1538. The high point came with the commission in 1535 to complete the frescoes in Parma Cathedral following the death of Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio, a testament to the esteem in which Gandini was held by his contemporaries. Having died prematurely in 1538, he did not finish the work and left behind only the preparatory drawings for the project. His work reveals an original synthesis of formal elegance, expressive intensity and attention to the rendering of light – elements that make him a significant figure in the sixteenth-century art scene.
Gallery
