Venice is an incredible human artefact, aptly described by Italian poet Petrarch as ‘another world’ (mundus alter). Isolated from the mainland by a protecting maze of lagoons, Venice turned outward to the sea and to the East as much as to the Italian mainland. The city’s extraordinary physical landscape and its strategic position as the nodal point of East-West trade shaped a unique urban environment and artistic culture. In this lecture we trace the contours of a distinctly Venetian aesthetic, from Paolo Veneziano to Giovanni Bellini, from the Doge’s palace to the church and library of St Mark’s.

Proudly sponsored by Arab Bank Australia and Sir William Dobell Art Foundation