The last exposition of Vittore Carpaccio in Venice
Vittore Carpaccio – Scuola di San Giorgio e Trifone
The last exhibition of Vittore Carpaccio in the Doge’s palace in Venice was held in 1963. It was the first monographic exhibition dedicated to the Venetian painter and was curated by Pietro Zampetti.
Pietro Zampetti, who was also Soprintendente in the Marche Region, professor at the University of Cà Foscari, director of the Academy of Fine Art in Venice, organized some of the first great monographic expositions dedicated to some Venetian painters or theme: Vittore Carpaccio, Lorenzo Lotto, Giannantonio Guardi, Carlo Crivelli, La pittura del Seicento a Venezia ( Seventeenth centuries painting).
The core of the exhibition was a series of paintings that had never left Venice (some of them are in this moment -2022- exposed in Washington): the Saint Ursula series, the Miracles of the Cross, the best of the canvas of San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, the Salvador Mundi from the Contini Bonacossi collection, The meditation on the passion from the Metropolitan Museum of New York, The presentation to the temple of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, The young knight, togheter with some other masterpieces like the Madonna enthroned with Saint from Vicenza, The Saint Paul from Chioggia, and other paintings from the Museum Correr and from Milan, Stuttgard, Udine and Zara.
The exposition was the occasion to answer to the question if Carpaccio had to be considered an artist so important as other contemporary artist, like Giovanni Bellini and take note of the influence on some other contemporary artists.
Vittore Carpaccio is, in fact, a unique example in the Italian Renaissance Art: his narrative, his vivid construction of the space, his observation of the interior and the architectures are detailed and original.
Today there is no doubt that Vittore Carpaccio can be considered a great master of the past, so the research can give us new perspectives of the work and life of the Venetian master.
Carpaccio Vittore and Benedetto from Venice to Istria
The exposition that was held in 2015 and was dedicated to Vittore and Benedetto Carpaccio, curated by Giandomenico Romanelli in Conegliano gave us, in fact, the possibility to admire some less known works of the painter and his son Benedetto at the end of the career.
Carpaccio was one of the most celebrated interpreters of the Venetian world between the end of the 15th and the early the 16th century.
When a new generation of geniuses, like Giorgione, Titian, Pordenone, Lotto and Sebastiano del Piombo appear on the Venetian artistic scene, there was a change and a development in Carpaccio painting language: the painter made a critical review of his language with important effects.
Vittore Carpaccio worked finally for clients on the Venetian mainland, for Cadore, Istria and Dalmatia, but also for Venetian patricians.
Also the political, cultural and religious events of the early 15th and 16th century probably pushed Vittore Carpaccio towards a change at the conclusion of his career when he created paintings marked by bright colors and precious enlightenments.
In the exhibition there were also works by his son Benedetto who inherited his father’s workshop and continued to work in Istria.
Vittore Carpaccio, Master storyteller of Renaissance in Venice
The exhibition Vittore Carpaccio, Master storyteller of Renaissance in Venice will be on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington from November 2022 to February 2023. The exhibition includes 45 paintings and 30 designs and it is organized by the National Gallery and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. This exhibition is curated by Peter Humphrey, Andrea Bellieni and Gretchen Hirtschaen and it is announced to take place also in Venice, in the Doge’s Palace from March to June 2023 with the title: Vittore Carpaccio paintings and designs.
The exposition in Venice will be also the occasion to admire some paintings of Vittore Carpaccio recently restored by Save Venice, like Saint Augustine in His Study and Saint George and the dragon in the Scuola degli Schiavoni.
If you desire to discover Vittore Carpaccio in Venice, visit the exposition or some hidden gems of the Renaissance Art in Venice, you can contact me.
Fiorella Pagotto
Carpaccio, Hunting in the lagoon, Getty Museum, @picture wikipedia and Venetian Ladies, Museo Correr, Venice.
