Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ACCADEMIA'S STAR ARCHITECTS
The Accademia represents Venice's single most important art collection - and the work of several of its finest ar-
chitects.
»
Bartolomeo Bon
completed the spare, Gothic-edged Santa Maria della Carità facade in 1448.
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In 1561,
Palladio
took a classical approach to the Convento dei Canonici Lateranensi, which was absorbed
into the Accademia.
»
From 1949 to 1954, modernist
Carlo Scarpa
took a minimalist approach to restorations, taking care not to
upset the delicate symmetries achieved between architects over the centuries.
Rooms 11-19
Now that you've reached the halfway mark of Venice's contributions to art history, you'll
notice a lighter baroque touch and more down-to-earth subject matter. As you enter Room
11, you may feel observed by the gossipy Venetian socialties hanging over balconies in
1743-45 lunettes by Tiepolo. These charming ceiling details originally hung in the Scalzi
Church, and were narrowly salvaged after 1915 Austrian bombings.
Rooms 12 to 18 are currently undergoing restoration to showcase Canaletto's sweeping
views of Venice and Giorgione's highly charged
La Tempesta
(The Storm). Art historians
still debate the meaning of the mysterious nursing mother and passing soldier with a bolt
of summer lightning: is this an expulsion from Eden, an allegory for alchemy, or a refer-
ence to Venice conquering Padua in the War of Cambria?
Restored portrait galleries will feature larger-than-life Venetian characters: Lorenzo
Lotto's soul-searching
Portrait of a Young Scholar;
Rosalba Carriera's brutally honest
self-portrait; Pietro Longhi's lovestruck violinist watching a twirling debutante in
The
Dance Lesson
; and a saucy, fate-tempting socialite in Giambattista Piazzetta's
Fortune-
Teller
.
