Sérénissime Trame: Carpets from the Zaleski Collection and Renaissance Paintings
Carpets, painting and collecting are the three themes proposed by the exhibition, which revolve around Venice, bridge to the Orient and cradle of Renaissance painting. The sacred and secular iconography in the latter contains a complement of metaphors among which the images of carpets also stand out, in harmony with the society and culture of the period. At the same time it is precisely the paintings by European Renaissance artists that document the spread of these luxury items. symbolizing sacredness, grandeur and power.
Until September 10 at the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti at Ca ‘d’Oro you can visit the exhibition dedicated to very rare 15th and 16th cent. carpets displayed along with paintings depicting them. In the past, when it wasn’t easy to assign the origin of an artifact to the country where they were woven, carpets were known by the name of the painter who painted them. So, here are the Holbein, the Lotto, the Bellini, along with rare Persian, Mamluk and Caucasian carpets, of very high quality and in good conservation conditions. Do not miss the small ‘Polonaise’ Persian carpet interwoven with silver and gold. Five similar carpets, donated to the Doges by the Safavid ambassadors of Shah Abbas, are on show in the Treasury of St. Mark.
Among the paintings on display ‘The Birth of the Virgin’ and ‘The Visit’ by Carpaccio, ‘Madonna dell’Ombrello’ by Girolamo dei Libri, ‘The Madonna of the Carpet’ by Vincenzo Foppa: it is of great effect the comparison of the paintings with the carpets on show. Children aged 6 to 12 can learn how to knit on Tuesdays and Fridays, sitting cross-legged with a loom, in the splendid portego of Ca ‘d’Oro. On the first Sunday of August and September: do not miss the opportunity to get free in Galleria Giorgio Franchetti at Ca’ d’Oro!