THE IMAGE OF THE EUROPEAN CITY FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE ENLIGHTMENT

From February 8th to May 18th 2014
Museo Correr, Venice

The fascinating context of the European city from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment is evoked in this exhibition through an extraordinary iconographic repertory comprising over a hundred paintings, prints and drawings from prestigious public and private, Italian and foreign collections.

Ever since the Middle Ages, towns have been a favoured subject in European painting and a means for a state to promoate itself and show off its virtues. The exhibition brings together those global images of an especially high quality that for centuries were the only or most persuasive means for showing off the beauty and wealth of Europe’s leading cities. The exhibition starts with Italy, the first to introduce the imago urbis thanks to the invention of perspective in the early years of the 15th century, providing a fascinating manifesto of the ambitions of popes, princes and sovereigns.

Following a chronological and geographic itinerary, the visitor can then travel virtually through cities transformed by time, which for the most part no longer exist in the same way.

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Scientific coordination Gabriella Belli
Curated by Cesare De Seta
Layout by Daniela Ferretti