Venice in the late 15th century was one of the largest cities in Europe and arguably the most sophisticated and cosmopolitan. The city teemed with artists and patrons. Not surprisingly, many of the features we take for granted in art collecting today—for example, the practice of connoisseurship, the gallery picture, the secondary market, and the illustrated collection catalogue—were first developed in Renaissance Venice. This lecture offers fascinating anecdotes of pioneering art collectors and their prized possessions in the Serenissima, a culture of competitive aesthetics that gave birth to the art market and art world of our time.

Presented by Dr. Frederick Ilchman, Save Venice Chairman and Chair,
Art of Europe at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

A specialist in the art of Renaissance Venice, Frederick Ilchman is Chair, Art of Europe, and the Mrs. Russell W. Baker Curator of Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from
Columbia University, both in art history. Frederick has curated or co-curated such exhibitions as Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice (MFA and Musée du Louvre, 2009), Goya: Order and Disorder (MFA, 2014),
Casanova’s Europe (Kimbell Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and MFA, 2017), and Tintoretto: Painter
of Renaissance Venice (Palazzo Ducale and National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2018). He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Save Venice Inc., the largest private organization devoted to art conservation in Venice.

*Offered exclusively to current members: Join or Renew