The new galleries of the Doge’s Palace

VIF is promoting the historical reconstruction of a real Quadreria by dedicating an entire space that will house symbolic works of the Serenissima’s invaluable collection. At the end of this important intervention, masterpieces will be admired under a new light, giving them new life thanks to the philological staging by maestro Pierluigi Pizzi.

The New Quadreria at the Palazzo Ducale – the Doge’s Palace – will be realised with the contribution of the Venice International Foundation.

Metamorphosis is one of Venice’s distinguishing features. That unparalleled ability to change its nature while retaining its vital spark. With their intangible – but powerful – drive to educate, plan, promote and conserve, our city’s museums enable an immersion in history, following the close intertwining of art and power, business sense and the pursuit of beauty, ingenuity and achievement. Because they are repositories of a glorious past, one necessary in order to examine the present and imagine the future. They have faced transformations and changes, but they have not abdicated their role: to make art and culture breathe. To tell stories.

It is with this spirit that the Venice International Foundation will finance the restoration of the Nuova Quadreria (New Picture Gallery) in the Palazzo Ducale, which at the end of the major project will house masterpieces such as ‘Venice Receives the Gifts of the Sea from Neptune’ by Giambattista Tiepolo, a ‘Pietà’ by Giovanni Bellini and works by Flemish artists such as ‘The Mocking of Christ’ by Quentin Metsys and ‘Hell’ by Herri met de Bles aka il Civetta.

Thanks to the VIF, it will become possible once more to admire the ‘Annunciation of the Martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria’, now better known as “David Bowie’s Tintoretto”, which entered the star’s collection in the 1980s and was acquired in 2016 by a private collector.

These works will acquire a new lease of life thanks to the layout designed by the master architect and set designer Pier Luigi Pizzi, who in the past for the same venue created the presentation of Antonio Rizzo’s statues, undertook the restyling of the Armeria and of the Museo dell’Opera, and redesigned the illumination of the monumental rooms of the Maggior Consiglio and the Scrutinio. The refurbishment of the rooms, whose current layout dates back to the 1970s, will make one of the most striking succession of rooms in the Palazzo shine with a new beauty. The project represents a gesture of protection and rebirth that makes us proud.

The VIF President
Luca Bombassei