Museums and Galleries in Venice

major museums, galleries and collections in Venice and the Veneto

Palazzo Grassi, Grand Canal

In Venice, the Academy Galleries (Accademia) house the major collections of Venetian painting from the 14th to the 18th centuries; the G. Franchetti Gallery also has important paintings, and the Guggenheim Collection exhibits international works of contemporary art. In the Palazzo Grassi, exhibitions of international interest are organized every year. Other places of interest are the Museum of the Venetian Settecento (18th century) with tapestries, clothing, furniture and paintings; the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Oriental Museum and the Correr Museum, which has numerous Renaissance masterpieces.

Accademia & Guggenheim | Links to Major Museums and Collections | Practical Information

Accademia

The Gallerie dell’Accademia houses the major collections of Venetian painting from 1300 to 1700. Notable works in the gallery include Paolo Veneziano’s Coronation of Mary, Carpaccio’s Crucifixion and Apotheosis, Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna with Child between Saints Catherine and Mary Magdalen, Giorgione’s Tempest, Lorenzo Lotto’s Portrait of a Young Gentleman in His Studio, Paolo Veronese’s Feast in the House of Levi, and Tintoretto’s Theft of St Mark’s Body and Crucifixion.

Telephone: 041 522 2247; Opening time: Monday to Saturday 9am to 7pm, Sunday 9am to 2pm; Admission: €6.50

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

The wealthy American heiress Peggy Guggenheim bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in 1948 where she lived until her death in 1979. The Guggenheim collection is now housed in the former palazzo and has become one of the most distinguished collections of modern art in Italy. It spans the artistic movements of Cubism, European Abstraction and Surrealism with notable works by Brancusi, Marino Marini, Kandinsky, Picasso, Magritte, Rothko, Max Ernst, Dali and Jackson Pollock.

Address: Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, 701 Dorsoduro; Telephone: 041 240 5411; Website: www.guggenheim-venice.it; Opening time: Daily except Tuesdays 10am to 6pm; Admission: €10; concessions available.

top of page>>

Links to Major Museums and Collections:

Musei Civici Veneziani

This website gives full details of location, contents and entry fees for these major museums and galleries (in english):

Doge’s Palace, Museo Correr, Clock Tower, Ca’ Rezzonico – Museum of 18th-Century Art, Palazzo Mocenigo, Carlo Goldoni’s house, Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art, Museo Fortuny, Glass Museum, Lace Museum, Museum of Natural History, Civic Tower.

Palazzo Grassi

Fiat’s cultural institution in Venice puts on a wide range of exhibitions from Dali to the Pharaohs.

Museo Correr

The Museum is laid out in various sections that offer a fascinating insight into the Art and History of Venice. Entrance for the public: St. Mark’s Square, Napoleonic Wing, Monumental Staircase.

Museionline.it (in Italian)

Museionline results provides updated information concerning over 3,500 museums. The site aims at enhancing and promoting the Italian cultural heritage worldwide. Besides detailed service information on each museum, Adnkronos Cultura provides information on cultural programmes, exhibitions, and the activities carried out by Italian museums.

Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (in Italian)

Fondazione San Servolo

Fondazione Levi

Fondazione Cini

The Giorgio Cini Foundation is a non-profit cultural institution based in Venice, Italy. It was constituted by Count Vittorio Cini with the aim of restoring the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore (devastated after 100 years of military occupation) and of creating an international cultural centre that would re-integrate the Island into the life of Venice.

Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa

Fondazione Querini Stampalia (in Italian)

The Palazzo Querini Stampalia is the home of the Foundation of the same name created in 1868 by Count Giovanni, who died the following year without direct heirs. The Library and Museum are a stone’s throw from Piazza San Marco and open until late (Tue-Sat 11pm) according to the Count’s wishes. You can download a pdf about it in English here.

top of page>>

Practical info:

Here are links to info pages where you can find addresses, telephone numbers, entrance details and brief descriptions of the various museums and art repositories in Venice:

State Museums

Gallerie dell’Accademia, Galleria Franchetti – Ca’ d’Oro, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Museo di Arte Orientale, Palazzo Grimani, Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana

Civic Museums

Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum, Museum of the Venetian Settecento (18th century) – Ca’ Rezzonico, Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo (Centro Studi di Storia del Tessuto e del Costume), Casa Goldoni, Ca’ Pesaro (Galleria internazionale D’Arte Moderna), the Clock Tower, Museo Fortuny (also once owned by the Pesaro family)

Foundations

Collezione Peggy Guggenheim.

Museums on the Islands

Basilica di S.M. Assunta di Torcello (cathedral bell tower), Torcello Museum: Torcello, Museo del Vetro (Glass Museum): Murano, Museo del Merletto (Lace Museum): Burano, Planetarium of Venice: Lido

Museums and Collections

Basilica di San Marco – Pala d’Oro e Tesoro, Basilica di San Marco – Galleria Museum, Basilica di San Marco – Campanile (Bell Tower), Basilica di San Marco – Palazzo Patriarcale (Patriarch’s Palace), Museo Storico Navale (Naval History Museum), Museo della Musica, San Giorgio Maggiore (church and bell-tower)

Other Museums

Oratorio dei Crociferi (Cannaregio, founded in the mid-twelfth century), Oratorio dei Crociferi (Zitelle Church, Giudecca), Ospedaletto Church and Music Room (built in 1575), Telecom Italia Future Centre (near Rialto Bridge).

Venetian Villas in the Venice area

Venetian Villas around the Riviera of Brenta:
Barchessa Valmarana
Villa Foscari “La Malcontenta”
Villa Foscarini Rossi
Villa Nazionale Pisani Ex Reale
Villa Widmann Foscari Rezzonico
Venetian Villas near Treviso:Castello di Roncade Villa Barbaro
Venetian Villas around Padua (Padova}:
Villa Barbarigo Pizzoni Ardemani: Padua
Villa Contarini: Piazzola sul Brenta, a few kilometers from Padua and Vicenza
Venetian Villas near Vicenza:
Thiene Castle: Perhaps Vicenza’s most significant XVth century Gothic building Villa Capra ora Valmarana detta La Rotonda
Villa Godi Malinverni:the first villa designed and built in 1542 by the architect Andrea Palladio
Villa Pisani Bonetti: another Palladio villa
Venetian Villas near Udine :
Villa Manin Di Passariano: an imitation of Versailles