These walks cover five artists of the Venetian school (Giovanni Bellini, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Tiepolo) with an emphasis on viewing their works within their original settings. There are ‘bonus’ works from the other artists along the way such as Carpaccio and Palma Giovane.
By viewing artworks in galleries, books or onscreen you are seeing them disembodied from their context. Venice provides the opportunity to view great works of art to be appreciated in their original setting. This also helps fill in some of the historical context of the work. Given the city’s confines, it is possible to see the neighborhood or even house of an artist, the place where they worshipped and their final resting place, usually within close proximity. This type of engagement with the creator and their work is rare.
These walks exclude the major galleries, St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. If you are short of time, visit these venues for a hypodermic shot of Venetian art that is beautifully curated! The aim here is to go off the ‘beaten track’ just a little to appreciate the works on offer in various palazzi, churches, and guild halls.
No claim of fine arts expertise is made here. The walks have been created on the philosophy of ‘I know what I like’ and have been done for a bit of fun. As the following exchange from the (1981) TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited shows, it doesn’t pay to be a smarty pants pretending to know about Venetian artists. The scene: two of the main characters visit the city to see one of their fathers who lives there with his mistress. They are seated chatting in a garden cafe-bar:
‘Charles is very keen on painting,’ said Sebastian.
‘Yes?’ (I noticed the hint of deep boredom which I knew so well in my own father).
‘Yes? Any particular Venetian painter?’
‘Bellini,’ I answered rather wildly.
‘Yes? Which?’
‘I’m afraid that I didn’t know there were two of them.’
‘Three to be precise. You will find that in the great ages painting was very much a family business….’
Of the five featured artists on these walks, three had sons who went on to paint, and all had various family members involved in the ‘trade’ in some way.
If a work has been missed along the route, use the contact form to let me know.
A 3.5 km walk that traverses the city from west to east, covering eight of his works in eight venues. The other highlight on this itinerary is Carpaccio’s cycle of paintings featured in the Scuole di S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni.
This walk is 3.75 km long. It covers nine of his works in seven venues. We start at the ‘Frari’ where there is also a bonus Giovanni Bellini painting. This walk highlights the artist from these five walks who arguably had the greatest renown of the Venetian artists of the era.
A 4 km long walk that traverses the city from south to north. It covers 94 of his works in twelve different venues. This walk highlights the artist with the most prodigious output in the group of five walks.
A 3.5 km walk taking in 23 of the great painter’s works. Veronese was a great decorator of villas and was skilled in both frescoe and oil painting – those works are outside the city, but are a testament to his versatility. The highlight of this work is his opus in the church of San Sebastiano.
A 3.5 km walk that traverses the city from south to north. It covers 14 of his works in seven venues. This walk highlights the later of the five chosen artists in these walks, with Tiepolo working during the so-called Rococo period. Works here include both paintings and frescoes.
