Welcome

...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!