The number and the quality of the exhibited works makes the Accademia Galleries in Venice the most important place where to admire Venetian painting.
By viewing a selected number of works this tour aims to provide visitors with an overview on Venetian painting from the 14th to the 16th centuries when a great number of masterpieces were produced by the hands of renown artists. The tour unfolds through several rooms with painted works by the Bellinis, the Vivarinis, Cima da Conegliano, Vittore Carpaccio, Giorgione, Lorenzo Lotto, Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto among others. Besides the depiction of the works that will be seen, the goal of this tour is to provide insight about the different painting styles, techniques and historical background on the time of the artists.
The beginning of this museum originated between 1805 and 1810 when the French administration in Venice decided to close, destroy or dispossess a great number of religious buildings. The paintings and altarpieces that were kept inside those buildings and that were not sold, seized or lost were brought to the Accademia for safekeeping. The Accademia proper was inaugurated in 1807 as a School of Art occupying the former Convent of the Lateran Canons and the ground floor of their church.
The Pinacoteca or painting gallery was open in 1817 after a large restructuring work that brought together the upper part of the church and the meeting rooms of the Scuola della Carità.
As more works were delivered to the Accademia through donations and acquisitions, more room was necessary to house them and two more sections were added then between 1828 and 1856. And this is the area still dedicated to display paintings but for not long. After a great restoration work a large new area has been restored in the former rooms of the School of Art inside the old convent and they are ready now to house a great number of works still in the Accademia storehouse.
In the meanwhile the newly restored rooms are dedicated to host temporary exhibits.
