Above: The Giorgione room
I remember looking at a black and white image of The Tempest as a young 16yr old, not fully understanding its importance of it as a work of Art. The Accademia has three Giorgione works, The Tempest, The old woman and the Concert. So many books have been written about the tempest and its meaning, but I thought I would write about the less famous work The old woman. It is an amazing painting for so many reasons. A beautiful portrait of an old woman sitting at a ledge with a message in her hand “with time”. The motto can be interpreted in various ways (like so many of Giorgione’s works) evoking the destructive power of time, the fleeting nature of earthly goods or as a praise of old age, I like the latter.
Room ten is truly a magnificent room, it is hard to put into words how intimate such a big room can be. When you enter the room, you are greeted on the right by Veronese’ enormous work, The feast in the House of Levi measuring 18 feet by 42 feet, one of the largest oils on canvas of the renaissance. There are so many masterpieces in this room and it is hard to choose just one but I love the work of Tintoretto and he has an amazing Crucifixion in the room.
Tintoretto’s crucifixion 1555, is a work which surprised me. I had never seen one of his paintings with such bright colours and it is said that Veronese influenced this. You can see Christ on the cross with a typical darkened Tintoretto palette but beneath the cross the figures wear such bright coloured drapery. Tintoretto’s masterpiece and considered by many to be his greatest work is the Crucifixion in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. It is a monumental painting that is very dark as befitting the subject so if you do get an opportunity compare and contrast.
The next room is amazing also and it really is difficult to choose a work to write about. It contains Tintoretto’s Miracle of the slave 1547, a theatrical work of Art, and you are challenged as to where to look on the canvas, Titian’s Saint John the Baptist 1540, but probably the most famous piece in the room is Titian’s Pieta 1575. It was supposed to be a work for Titian’s own tomb in the Frari. The colour range is very limited, almost monochrome with loose brushstrokes, but it makes for a very moving work of Art, and you cannot help feeling how personal it must have been for Titian. Titian has painted himself as saint Jerome kneeling in front of Christ cradling his hand. Interestingly the painting was finished by Titian’s student Jacopo Negretti who added the Latin inscription at the bottom of the painting, “What Titian left unfinished, Palma concluded with reverence and dedicated the work to God” There is a seat right in front of this masterpiece which allows one to contemplate the work. Very moving indeed.
Room 12 is a very long corridor with some very nice paintings in smaller rooms to the right. There is a beautiful Lorenzo Lotto, portrait of a young man 1530. There are many works of Art hanging on the walls of the corridor and just when you think you have seen them all a huge Tintoretto is at the end of the corridor, Madonna of the Treasurers 1566.
At this stage I could do with a pick me up but there is one observation I will make. There is no café in the Museum. Now I don’t think this is a one hour or indeed a two-hour museum. I think it is a 1 day museum for Art Lovers, and I don’t understand why the Accademia have decided not to have a café, there could be a very good reason that I am unaware of but I can assure you I would love a cappuccino at this stage.
So that’s the first floor complete and I head downstairs to the ground floor and rooms starting from Number 1 as opposed to the Roman numerals on the first floor. There is a beautiful Francesco Hayez and his destruction of the temple in Jerusalem 1867.
There is a model of Antonio Canova’s monument (his tomb is in the Frari). There is a very nice Canaletto, perspective with Portico 1765. There are a large number of Tiepolo’s works and for a Lover of Tiepolo, it is a must see. Many of his works are monumental in size and possibly too many to include here, but I have included Scourge of the Serpents.
Just before I was about to finish up, I entered this room which had a multiple hang in it, and I stopped to look. Some beautiful works there, a Bassano, Tintoretto a Titian, and I spotted one that took me by surprise as I had never seen any works by the artist, but I knew of his name. His portrait is one of the most beautiful ever painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck. It is a small work by Marten Rijckaert, a view of the Sybil of Tivoli.
The tour is almost over, and I have to admit it is definitely one of the greatest museums I have ever visited. Catching my eye to the right out the window, I think to myself wouldn’t that just make the most beautiful courtyard Café, but alas….
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Alan is an avid Art Gallery visitor here in Europe. I would think I have visited approximately 33 Art related galleries(churches with works of Art also) in Europe. He has a bucket list of approximately 14 left to visit (obviously there's always more).