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Gallerie dell'Accademia Review

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Gallerie dell'Accademia

Address: Campo della Carità, Dorsoduro 1050, Venice
Phone: 041/5222247; 041/5200345 reservations
www.gallerieaccademia.org

Category: Museums/Galleries, Castles/Palaces
Location: Dorsoduro

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 3.7/5

Fodor's Review:

Napoléon founded these galleries in 1807 on the site of a religious complex he'd suppressed, and what he initiated now amounts to the world's most extraordinary collection of Venetian art. Jacopo Bellini is considered the father of the Venetian Renaissance, and in Room 2 you can compare his Madonna and Child with Saints with such later works as Madonna of the Orange Tree by Cima da Conegliano (circa 1459-1517) and Ten Thousand Martyrs of Mt. Ararat by Vittore Carpaccio (circa 1455-1525). Jacopo's son Giovanni (circa 1430-1516) draws your eye not with his subjects but with his rich color. Rooms 4 and 5 are full of his Madonnas; note the contrast between the young Madonna and child and the neighboring older Madonna after the crucifixion—you'll see the colors of dawn and dusk in Venice. Room 5 contains Tempest by Giorgione (1477-1510), a work that was revolutionary in its time and has continued to intrigue viewers and critics over the centuries. It depicts a storm approaching as a nude woman nurses her child and a soldier looks on. The overall atmosphere that Giorgione creates is as important as any of his figures.

In Room 10, Feast in the House of Levi, commissioned as a Last Supper, got Veronese dragged before the Inquisition over its depiction of dogs, jesters, and German (therefore Protestant) soldiers. The artist saved his neck by simply changing the title, so that the painting represented a different biblical feast. Titian's Presentation of the Virgin (Room 24) is the collection's only work originally created for the building in which it hangs. Don't miss Rooms 20 and 21, with views of 15th- and 16th-century Venice by Carpaccio and Gentile Bellini (1429-1507), Giovanni's brother—you'll see how little the city has changed.

Booking tickets in advance isn't essential but helps during busy seasons and costs only an additional EUR 1. Booking is necessary to see the Quadreria, where additional works cover every inch of a wide hallway. A free map names art and artists, and the bookshop sells a more-informative English-language booklet. In the main galleries a EUR 4 audio guide saves reading but adds little to each room's excellent annotation.

Cost: EUR 6.50, EUR 11 includes Ca' d'Oro and Museo Orientale
Open: Tues.-Sun. 8:15-7:15, Mon. 8:15-2
Vaporetto: Accademia

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Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by jdf018 from BC on 4/19/09
This building is falling apart and the only piece that is worth seeing really in Feast in the House of Levi, so unless you have your mind set on seeing it this is NOT WORTH IT! The description above makes it sound worth your time and money but it is truly a rose colored exageration. They have the Vitruvian man in storage but it hasn't been on display in years so don't be fooled! This gallery was truly a monumental disappointment.

Member Rating: 1.2
Ratings details: Experience: 1.0 Ease: 2.0 Value: 1.0 Don't Miss: 1.0

Reviewed by andrejeffry from Toronto, Canada on 5/20/07
Tourists expecting similar experience as the Louvre or the Prado will be dissapointed with the Accademia. But genuine art lovers know that pound per pound, in term of quality of the arts, Accademia can definitely hold a candle even against the more famous museums. It's true that Accedemia doesn't have the grandeur of the bigger museums, heck none of the museums in Italy are, not even the Uffizi. But what the Accademia has is one masterpiece after another, by Bellini, Tintoretto, Giorgione, Titian, Tiepolo. Those world-famous artists spent many years in Venice. Venice and Accademia are littered with their masterpieces
Highly recommended for the art lovers, not for your average tourists

Member Rating: 4.8
Ratings details: Experience: 5.0 Ease: 4.0 Value: 5.0 Don't Miss: 5.0

Reviewed by torcello from Provincetown, MA on 12/20/06
This museum has a mind blowing amount of great artwork, regardless of what other seemingly highstrung reviewers have said here. How you can say you "love art" and not be floored by the Vivarinis, the Bellinis. the Titians, Veroneses and especially (for me) the Tintorettos is beyond me. This is just a hint of what is here. You could spend endless hours walking through the galleries and be overwhelmed. And yes, the building has cracks in it. Why that should be such a damper on someone's experience is beyond me. It's an OLD building and it's in VENICE - of course it has cracks in it. The St. Mark cycle by Tintoretto is one of the most brilliant and moving group of paintings you might ever see. I could go on and list paintings, but a guide book will be better for that. All I can say is that if you can't appreciate the artwork in l'Accademia, then you shouldn't even bother going to museums at all. For everyone else - go and indulge your heart and soul and eyes with some of the greatest painting you'll ever see.

Member Rating: 5.0
Ratings details: Experience: 5.0 Ease: 5.0 Value: 5.0 Don't Miss: 5.0

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