Blog by: Maelynn Le
October 2022
All photos are taken by Maelynn Le
Photo: Adoration of the Magi by Sando Botticelli
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) museum is located in Minneapolis, MN. The museum showcases more than 90,000 works of art from different parts of the world. A lot of these sculptures, paintings, artifacts, etc have been made over 5,000 years ago and it’s astonishing to see the amount of unique pieces are at the museum. It is also one of the largest art museums in the United States. The great news? It’s free for anyone to attend the museum except for entering the Botticelli and Renaissance Florence: Masterworks from the Uffizi. That will be $20 for general admission and seniors + children are allowed to enter for free. It’s a bit much however, I would say visiting that exhibit was well worth it because of how much history and craft goes into this Exhibit.
Photo: Sleeping Cupid by Sando Botticelli
The humanism of ruler and patron Lorenzo de Medici, as well as ancient marble and mythology, led Renaissance artists to see art in a new way. Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510) was at the center of it all, and his brilliance at transforming ancient subjects into entirely own art inspired new standards of beauty. Botticelli was an Italian artist from Florence that revolutionized how art can be made. MIA is now exhibiting a significant exhibition that examines the fevered inventiveness that distinguished this time and place in a spectacular partnership with the Uffizi Galleries. Each room had its theme that represented the ideology behind each of Botticelli's and his colleague’s works. One of my favorite exhibit rooms was the virtue, passion, and pleasure theme. A piece I loved in that room was the “Aphrodite crouching” (photo on the bottom) by Sandro Botticelli because the marble work was so detailed and it was a gorgeous statue. Another theme I was intrigued by was the “People and Faces of Florence.” The one painting I saw that I loved was “Portrait of a Young Man” (see photo below) by Pietro Vannucci (one of Botticelli’s colleagues). The painting was made with oil on the panel and I liked the eyes on that one. The attention to detail is just incredible but we will never know who is the young man in the painting. Many works have been completed towards the BCE era and it’s just incredible to see the effort and attention to detail in all of these works. It’s very inspiring to see the artifacts and paintings and MIA is thankful for this partnership with Uffizi galleries. Check out the Botticelli and Renaissance Florence: Masterworks from the Uffizi exhibit at the MIA!
Info:
Up until October 16, 2022 - January 8, 2023
Target Gallery General Admission $20; My Mia Member $16; Investor+ Free; Youth 17 and Under Free
Photo: Aphrodite crouching” (photo on the bottom) by Sandro Botticelli (left) “Portrait of a Young Man” (see photo below) by Pietro Vannucci (right)