press release

This exhibition examines the relationship between Venice and the Islamic world over a thousand-year period, focusing on artistic and cultural ideas that originated in the Near East and were channeled, absorbed, and elaborated in Venice, a city that represented a commercial, political, and diplomatic magnet on the shores of the Mediterranean. The underlying theme of the exhibition focuses on the reasons why a large number of Venetian paintings, drawings, printed books, and especially decorative artworks were influenced by and drew inspiration from the Islamic world and from its art. "Orientalism" in Venice was based on direct contact with the Islamic world, which brought about new technological, artistic, and intellectual information. These Venetian objects are studied vis-à-vis works of Islamic art, providing an immediate, comparative visual reference. A continuous thread throughout the exhibition deals with the works of Islamic art that entered Venetian collections in historical times and explores the nature of the artistic relationship between Venice and the Mamluks in Egypt, the Ottomans in Turkey, and the Safavids in Iran. Accompanied by a catalogue.

only in german

Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797

Künstler: Lorenzo Bastiani, Gentile Bellini, Giovanni Mansueti, Lorenzo Lotto, Tizian  ...