The Gallerie dell'Accademia first opened to the public in 1817 on the basis of masterpieces in the care of the Venetian art academy, Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. The Gallerie dell'Accademia today possesses a rich collection of Venetian paintings from the 14th to the 18th century, some 2,000 works in all. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan, an exhibition of works from the Gallerie dell'Accademia will be held in Japan for the first time. The exhibition's theme Venetian painting of the Italian Renaissance. While artists in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, took as their principle the careful application of colors in a well-ordered composition on the basis of a clear design, the artists of Venice preferred rich coloring in bold, dramatic compositions and explored ways to directly communicate feeling and emotion.

This exhibition will survey Venetian painting from the 15th to early 17th century through some 60 of the Gallerie dell'Accademia's most important works. Arriving in Japan will be a dazzling array of masterpieces by painters ranging from Giovanni Bellini to Carlo Crivelli, Vittore Carpaccio, Tiziano Vecellio, Jacopo Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese. Of special note will be The Annunciation (Church of San Salvador, Venice), a late-period altarpiece of large scale by Tiziano, the great master of the Venetian High Renaissance. An exhibition thus focused on Venetian paintings of the Renaissance period has almost no precedent in Japan. It will be a precious opportunity to marvel at paintings that counted among the splendors of Renaissance Venice, City of Water.