Tintoretto's Portraits of Giovanni Grimani

The Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Venetian Heritage and Colnaghi are pleased to present the exhibition dossier Tintoretto’s Portraits of Giovanni Grimani dedicated to the portraiture of Giovanni Grimani, patriarch of Aquileia. The exhibition is part of the project to enhance and promote the history and collections of the palace, begun in 2019 with the refurbishment of the Tribuna Grimani and the Sala del Doge and carried out thanks to the collaboration between the Direzione regionale Musei Veneto- Italin Ministry of Culture and Venetian Heritage. On the occasion of this special exhibition, the Portrait of Giovanni Grimani attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, already in the museum's collections thanks to the acquisition and donation of the same by Venetian Heritage can be compared with two other paintings by the hand of his father Jacopo Tintoretto, testifying to the iconographic development of the Venetian prelate's effigy in a succession spanning several decades from the second half of the 16th century to the early 17th. An exceptional loan is a small oil on panel painting depicting the Portrait of Giovanni Grimani, recently rediscovered in a private collection by the Colnaghi Gallery and displayed for the first time to the public in this exhibition. The panel was made by Jacopo Tintoretto probably as a model for the execution of two of the artist's masterpieces: the Portrait of Giovanni Grimani owned by the Schorr Collection, on display in the exhibition, and the well-known Portrait of Giovanni Grimani kept at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated volume, published by Marsilio Arte, which for the occasion will provide an up-to-date reading of the ways in which the public image of the Venetian prelate came to be defined through his portraiture, taking into account Giovanni Grimani’s biography, the historical-political context, iconographic and iconological issues and the commissioning relationship with Tintoretto. The exhibition project, curated by Toto Bergamo Rossi, Daniele Ferrara and Valeria Finocchi, and promoted, organized and financed by the Direzione regionale Musei Veneto, Venetian Heritage and Colnaghi, represents a fresh example of virtuous collaboration between public and private ensuring the protection and promotion of our cultural heritage. Go to Venetian Heritage website