Emerging From Darkness

Hamilton Gallery in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria

Emerging from Darkness explores the radical transformation in Italian art that took place around the beginning of the seventeenth century. The exhibition focuses on how major Italian Baroque artists treated the human body in a new way, as they rejected the exaggerated, over-idealised representation of the figure by prior Mannerist artists, implementing instead a degree of naturalism based on direct observation.

This exhibition brings together over sixty Baroque works from public and private collections in Australia, underpinned by an unprecedented loan of more than forty major works from the NGV’s internationally-recognised Collection.

Further themes explored in Emerging from Darkness include the influence of Caravaggio and there is a particular focus on women artists who worked in the early seventeenth century, including Lavinia Fontana and Artemisia Gentileschi. As the first truly international art movement, the global impact of Baroque is also highlighted through the exhibition and its themes.

Emerging From Darkness is one of the most ambitious exhibitions ever held in regional Australia and provides visitors with fresh perspectives on this influential period of art history.

The NGV sincerely thanks AWM Electrical for their incredible support towards numerous Australian galleries, and we warmly acknowledge their outstanding leadership in enhancing Australia’s cultural landscape.

This project is proudly supported by the Victorian State Government through Visit Victoria and the Regional Events Fund.