An Italian Artist for Every Italian Region [Map]

This Italian map is fun but certainly controversial. It is a map of each region in Italy represented by a painting or fresco by an artist of that region.

Here’s the full map (click to zoom in). A list of the artworks and their creators follow.

Alphabetical List of Italian Regions with Their Representative Artworks

Links to the paintings are provided where possible

• Abruzzo: Young Shepherdesses by Francesco Paolo Michetti
• Basilicata: Pietà (Church of San Francesco, Potenza) by Giovanni De Gregorio
• Calabria: La Città Che Sale (The City Rises, in the Museum of Modern Art in New York) by Umberto Boccioni
• Campania: Saint Jerome in His Studio by Niccolò Antonio Colantonio
• Emilia-Romagna: Assumption of the Virgin (frescoes in the cupola of the Cathedral of Parma) by Correggio
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia: The Crucifixion (Cathedral of Cremona) by Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis aka Il Pordenone
• Lazio: Judith Beheading Holofernes (in the Uffizi) by Artemisia Gentileschi
• Liguria: The Cook by Bernardo Strozzi
• Lombardy: The Calling of Saint Matthew (in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome) by Caravaggio
• Marche: Marriage of the Virgin (in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan) by Raphael
• Molise: Mahler a Castellino by Antonio Pettinicchi
• Piemonte: The Fourth Estate (in the Museo del Novecento in Milan) by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo
• Puglia: Luisa Sanfelice in Prison (in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome) by Gioacchino Toma
• Sardinia: Couple from Atzara with Donkey by Antonio Corriga
• Sicily: Our Lady of the Annunciation by Antonello da Messina
• Tuscany: The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
• Trentino-Alto Adige: The Two Mothers (in the Galleria d’Arte Moderna Milano, Room XXIII) by Giovanni Segantini
• Umbria: Battle Between Love and Chastity (in the Louvre, Paris) by Pietro Vannucci aka Perugino
• Valle d’Aosta: Inside with the Taxidermist by Italo Mus
• Veneto: Piazza San Marco Towards the Basilica (in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemizsa, Madrid) by Giovanni Antonio Canal aka Canaletto

Cool! But can you see any problems?

The main problem, of course, is that many of the works that are representative of their respective regions are not visitable or viewable in those regions.

Artists have always traveled to where the money is. So that’s why you’ll find Il Pordenone’s Crucifixion in the Cathedral of Cremona (in Lombardy, several regions west from where Il Pordenone was born).

And then there’s the art market and artist popularity. On the one hand, it’s impressive that a boy from Calabria (Umberto Boccioni) has works in the MOMA in New York. But which work that is currently in Calabria and painted by a local artist is the most representative of that region?

The map is not exactly helpful for travel planning. Which is why I listed, when possible, where the works can be seen. Of course, if you have no chance to visit Trentino-Alto Adige but will be in Milan, then you can see Segantini’s “Two Mothers” at Milan’s Galleria of Modern Art. As for the art that represents Milan’s region — Caravaggio’s “Calling of Saint Matthew” — you’ll have to go to Rome to see that.

Staying Local

Some artists’ works on this map have remained in the regions where they were born. Those include:

• Basilicata: Pietà (Church of San Francesco, Potenza) by Giovanni De Gregorio
• Campania: Saint Jerome in His Studio by Niccolò Antonio Colantonio
• Emilia-Romagna: Assumption of the Virgin (frescoes in the cupola of the Cathedral of Parma) by Correggio
• Liguria: The Cook by Bernardo Strozzi
• Sicily: Our Lady of the Annunciation by Antonello da Messina
• Tuscany: The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
• Valle d’Aosta: Inside with the Taxidermist by Italo Mus

I regret I was unable to find more details about the location of the below works. Please do get in touch if you know more about:

• Abruzzo: Young Shepherdesses by Francesco Paolo Michetti
• Molise: Mahler a Castellino by Antonio Pettinicchi
• Sardinia: Couple from Atzara with Donkey by Antonio Corriga

In Conclusion

This map is confusing — but fun — and it is a chance to dive deeper into Italian art. I learned a lot doing the research and already have a deeper appreciation for some art and artists I knew too little about.

I hope that this post will inspire you, too! Maybe the map will spawn similar efforts. And maybe, just maybe, we can start to put these churches and museums on our itineraries again.

Post first published on May 18, 2020