Tomorrow, Saturday 26th October, will mark the launch of Gateway to Adventure: 50 Years of D&D Art exhibition, hosted by Chiesa dei Servi (Lucca, Italy) and organised by Lucca Comics & Games.
The unique and promising exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, and was curated by none other than Jon Peterson, game historian and author of Dungeons & Dragons – Art & Arcana and The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons 1970-1977, alongside Jessica Lee Patterson, art historian for the Koder collection since 2022.
Described as “an unmissable opportunity for art fans and collectors”, it’s set to be the largest D&D exhibition of its kind, ever, and will allow visitors the opportunity to admire the prestigious Koder Collection for the first time.
The Koder collection contains over 100 works of art and memorabilia related to the D&D universe, including from influential such as Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, Clyde Caldwell, Keith Parkinson, Brom and Todd Lockwood, whose works have all helped to shape the visual imagery of the game over the years.
The exhibition will also include a selection of original and iconic artwork from Dungeon & Dragon’s first edition to the present day, as well as the first variant cover ever created for a D&D handbook, signed by John Blanche for the English edition distributed in the United Kingdom by Games Workshop.
Alongside the main exhibition, the Uffizi Galleries are contributing to the 50th anniversary celebrations with the display of three centuries-old engravings depicting the mythological figure of the dragon, an iconic symbol in both the history of art and the world of fantasy.
These are works by artists from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including Cornelis Cort with Saint George and the Dragon (1577), Salvator Rosa with Jason Putting the Dragon to Sleep (1663-1664), and Giovanni Battista D’Angolo, known as del Moro, with Landscape with Saint Theodore and the Dragon (1560-70). The Dragons of the Uffizi will be exhibited in the Church of the Servi itself, creating an evocative dialogue between classical and pop art, between myth and role-playing game.
Simone Verde, director of the Uffizi Galleries, said:
“The dragon is perhaps the most famous and beloved of fantastic creatures, to the point of having, already in ancient times, migrated from the original Chinese mythology to the collective imaginations of all the peoples of the world. In the context of the exhibition of the three beautiful engravings that see it as the protagonist at Lucca Comics & Games, it takes on the symbolic meaning of the cosmopolitan journey of the image, of art, and of the pervasive energy of popular culture, which has always known no borders. Not only that. It is through this initiative, in fact, that the Galleries strengthen the fruitful cultural alliance implemented in recent years with the event: just in these days we have renewed our collaboration agreement for another two years.“
And here’s what Emanuele Vietina, director of Lucca Comics & Games, had to say:
“The relationship with the Uffizi Galleries continues and deepens” – states “over the years we have brought the self-portraits of the masters of comics to the largest collection of self-portraits in the world and this will continue. Today these three precious loans, which introduce the exhibition and marry perfectly with the works of the Koder Collection dedicated to fantasy imagery, confirm the affinities between the art that was popular and ‘consumed’ in the past and today’s languages. Tradition is updated to continue to pass on, this is the spirit of our collaboration.”
The exhibition is dedicated to both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, creators of D&D, and Keith Parkinson, who passed away in 2005. Interestingly, the city of Lucca will also be naming one of the historic dungeon-like ramparts exits, the San Paolino bastion, after Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
The Italians don’t do things by halves – especially when it comes to art – do they?
As an artist myself, I’m thinking how wonderful it would be to see these works in person, and I’m jealous of anyone who actually gets to go.
What do you think of this latest news – were you aware of the largest D&D art exhibition ever? Are you going? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.
