The journey to Venice: painters in the Serenissima, from Giorgio Vasari to Cavalier d'Arpino

CYCLE: Traveling in Italy between the 16th and 17th Centuries: maps and guides to discovering works, artists, and collections
SPEAKER: Michel Hochmann
DATE: Tuesday, May 19, 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Bibliotheca Maior - Sala della Crociera

The journey to Venice was a pivotal stage in the training and careers of European painters during the 16th century. Numerous accounts document these visits, from the Lives of Giorgio Vasari, who stayed in the Serenissima twice, to the notebooks of Federico Zuccaro, in which he sketched the works he had seen by Palma Vecchio, Pordenone, Veronese, and Titian. The attitude of these artists toward their discoveries varied considerably during this period. We will examine this evolution through various records, including the artists' own writings and the adoption of Venetian models in their work, to demonstrate how Venice progressively emerged as a major alternative to the models of Florence and Rome throughout the 16th century.

Michel Hochmann is a professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) in Paris, where he holds the Chair of "History of Italian Painting, 16th-17th Centuries." He previously taught at the University of Grenoble and served as the head of the Art History and Restoration Department at the French Academy in Rome - Villa Medici. His research focuses primarily on Renaissance art and Venetian painting. His notable publications include Peintres et commanditaires à Venise (1541-1628) (École française de Rome, Rome 1992); Venise et Rome 1500-1600, deux écoles de peinture et leurs échanges (Droz, Geneva 2004); and Colorito: La technique des peintres vénitiens à la Renaissance (Brepols, Turnhout 2016). He is currently working on a research project regarding the most recent restoration of the Carracci Gallery in the Palazzo Farnese. Since 2023, he has served as the President of the École Pratique des Hautes Études.

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