Venetian treasures

The project ‘Venetian Treasures’, designed for the 1600th anniversary of the Venice Foundation, wants to tell the story of the most valuable objects preserved in our museums.

Power acquires credibility through presenting a recognised image of itself. The political class of the Republic conducted public meetings wearing a toga with a stole in red velvet.

This dress was absolutely different from the clothes we wear today: it was like a beautiful armour, as precious as it was uncomfortable.

The 17th and 18th centuries saw a proliferation of women painters in Venice, daughters of famous artists. Among these stands Giulia Lama, who followed her career in a truly independent way.

Porcelain is perhaps the material which best represents the spirit and aesthetic sensibility of the 18th century. Having been a secret of the Chinese, it was first recreated in Europe in that period.

In his latter years Giandomenico Tiepolo was literally obsessed with the character of Pulcinella, who from time immemorial was a parodic symbol in popular culture of the weaknesses of men.

Vittore Carpaccio painted, during the end of the 15th century, what became one the most iconic work in the Correr Museum.

Among the masterpieces housed in Ca' Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, Madame X by Medardo Rosso stands out. The sculptor is considered one of the major Italian artists.

The Natural History Museum of Venice exhibits many unique objects from Africa, collected by Giovanni Miani during his daring travels, and donated in 1862 to the Town Council of Venice.

A popular strategy among women for appearing in public and being noticed in Venice was to wear the Calcagnini, footwear which remain shocking to this day.

The Pearls of Glass: small but extraordinary articles created by the skills of women's hands, which embody the history of Venice.

From the thirteenth century in Venice, doctors and surgeons worked alongside the Speziali ‘da fin’, whose responsibility it was to prepare the drugs, made thanks to the use of vegetable extracts.

Between 1450 and 1500 half of the European book market was printed in Venice. The Museum Correr's library is custodian of some of the works by Aldo Manuzio, the most famous of the typographists.

The Museo Correr houses the 16th century masterpiece of graphic art: the View of Venice engraved by Jacopo De’ Barbari in the year 1500, the most famous map of Venice in existence.

In 1901, when Rodin, a celebrated French sculptor, arrived in Venice to take part in the Biennale, the Council didn't hesitate to buy one of his best known masterpieces: "The Burghers of Calais".

The Serenissima imposed itself in the development of incredible artefacts, unique for their forms and techniques. What changed the history of Murano is, however, the invention of transparent glass.

Blown glass became an important art for the Serenissima, which understood its commercial potentials. To protect it the Republic, in 1291, decided to move all the furnaces to the island of Murano.

The most famous painting in Ca' Pesaro is Judith by Gustav Klimt. The Town Council of Venezia bought it in 1910 for only 9.900 liras. But it wasn't an easy decision.

The rarest and most unusual creature to reside in Venice: the Ouranosaurus nigeriensis, the dinosaur who welcomes visitors in the Natural History Museum in Venice.

Entirely and intensely blue, the Barovier Globet is the acknowledged and well known symbol of the Glass Museum of Murano, the most precious piece of the entire collection.