An internationally renowned antiquarian and an established art history connoisseur, Giorgio Baratti has been active in the art market ever since 1964, when he moved his first steps between Pisa and Florence, moving on to Milan in 1982, when he established Giorgio Baratti Arte Antica. Right in the centre of Milan, over the years the gallery expanded its offer, gradually establishing itself as a major player in the Italian and international art market. Baratti Antiquario is located in the prestigious Palazzo Bigli Ponti, one of the most important palaces in Milan, where bramantesque architecture is enriched by frescoes from the school of Leonardo. More recently, the gallery opened a new space in Palazzo Frescobaldi in Florence. Through his decades-long career, Giorgio Baratti has been a consultant for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery, Washington, the National Gallery of Warsaw and he also worked on the Catalogo dell’Antiquariato vols. 3 and 4 in 1993/1994, published by Mondadori. He sat on the Board of Directors of the prominent Italian auction house Finarte and managed its antiques departments until 2003. The Gallery has taken part in several art fairs, such as Mint (Milan International Antiques and Modern Art Fair), the Internazionale at the Permanente in Milan, Gotha in Parma, Collezionismo Internazionale in Palazzo Venezia, Rome, and the Biennale dell’Antiquariato in Florence, among others. Several international museums acquired works of art from the Gallery, chiefly the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and the Louvre Museum. Baratti’s wide-ranging understanding of the art market and his decades-long experience gave him the opportunity to curate national and international private collections for some of the finest patrons of the arts. Giorgio Baratti also promotes the art works in his collection through museum exhibitions, for which a catalogue is produced, and international loans for important exhibitions. In 2010, the town of Cesena dedicated the exhibition Lo Studiolo di Baratti to this charismatic figure, curated by professor Massimo Pulini. In February 2020 the exhibition From Sacro to Profano – the Giorgio Baratti Collection was opened in Vilnius, at the National Museum of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, with a selection of more than eighty works. Several eminent scholars have talked about Giorgio Baratti, primarily Professor Andrea Emiliani, Professor Claudio Strinati, Professor Giancarlo Sestieri, Professor Giancarlo Gentilini and Professor Nicola Spinosa.
Bibliography: E. Colle, “I mobili di Palazzo Pitti. Il periodo dei Medici(1537-1737)”, Allemandi Editore, p.28; E. Colle, ”ll mobile Barocco in Italia. Arredi e decorazioni d’interni dal 1600 al 1738”, Electa, p.192.