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This detail shows the portrait of a man of about 30 years of age. He looks directly at the viewer. It is the painter Vittore Carpaccio as he depicted himself in a painting. The detail is from a painting in the Ursula Cycle, which shows Ursula and her future husband meeting the Pope at the gates of Rome. The painter is standing in the Pope's entourage, surrounded by church dignitaries.

He has brown eyes, a straight nose and a small mouth with full lips. His face is framed by a light brown beard, which appears fine on his upper lip, and thick and strong on his cheeks. The curls of his chin-length light brown hair spill out from under a plain black cap. The artist wears a wrinkle-free black coat. A low white standing collar surrounds the artist's strong neck.

...this is what he may have looked like: the painter Vittore Carpaccio, who lived in Venice during the period around 1500. His paintings continue to shape our image of the city to this day.

Hello and welcome to the exhibition "Carpaccio, Bellini and the Early Renaissance in Venice". We'd like to take you back to a big, bustling city of the Early Modern Era, to a time when Venice was a proud, prosperous maritime republic with a glorious past. Venetian painters such as Vittore Carpaccio and Giovanni Bellini vividly illustrated the myth of Venice in their works.

Vittore Carpaccio, who takes centre stage at this exhibition, created colourful, detailed, fascinating visual worlds against realistic and imaginary backdrops drawn from Venice and landscapes of the Middle East. Ships, architecture, people and animals populate his paintings, making Carpaccio a chronicler of everyday life in Venice around 1500... as well as one of the most successful artists of the early Renaissance.

As you head to your right and into the first room of the exhibition, you'll immediately catch sight of one of his most important works: a monumental altarpiece with the Dominican Saint Thomas Aquinas enthroned in the centre. The panel is in the Staatsgalerie's collection and has been thoroughly researched and restored in preparation for this exhibition.

During your tour, you'll be able to listen to music from the time of Carpaccio and Bellini – offering an additional acoustic experience of early Renaissance Venice. The audio contributions are frequently accompanied by period music that was specially recorded for the exhibition in co-operation with "SWR Kultur" and the vocal ensemble "The Marian Consort" under its conductor Rory McCleery. 

Please join us as we travel to the Venice of 500 years ago and venture into the visual worlds created by Vittore Carpaccio, Giovanni Bellini and their contemporaries. You'll be amazed at the discoveries these paintings have to offer!

Hello and welcome to the exhibition "Carpaccio, Bellini and the Early Renaissance in Venice". This exhibition is about Vittore Carpaccio and Giovanni Bellini. Here you can see what Carpaccio looked like. The painter lived in Venice around 1500.

His impressive, colourful and lively paintings shape our view of Venice today. The pictures show people, often animals, houses, ships and plants. They made Carpaccio one of the most successful artists of the early Renaissance.

Continue to the right into the next room. Here you will see a large painting for an altar. The painting belongs to the museum and has been examined and restored for the exhibition. Restoration means that the painting has been cleaned and damage has been repaired. After the treatment, the details on the painting can be recognised much better. The colours also shine again. 

You will now begin your tour of the exhibition. You will see Venice as Vittore Carpaccio and Giovanni Bellini did! You will be amazed at what there is to discover in these pictures!