The Gallerie dell'Accademia, which is on northern Italy is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro.
It was originally the gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, the art academy of Venice, from which it became independent in 1879, and for which the Ponte dell'Accademia and the Accademia boat landing station for the vaporetto water bus are named. The two institutions remained in the same building until 2004, when the art school moved to the Ospedale degli Incurabili.
The Napoleonic administration had disbanded many institutions in Venice including some churches, convents and Scuole. The Scuola della Carità, the Convento dei Canonici Lateranensi and the church of Santa Maria della Carità thus became the home of the Accademia.
The Scuola della Carità was the oldest of the six Scuole Grandi and the building dates back to 1343, though the scuola was formed in 1260. The Convento dei Canonici Lateranensi was started in 1561 by Andrea Palladio, though it was never fully completed. The facade of Santa Maria della Carità was completed in 1441 by Bartolomeo Bon.
The Gallerie dell’Accademia contains masterpieces of Venetian painting up to the 18th century, generally arranged chronologically though some thematic displays are evident.
Hieronymus Bosch The Hermit Saints, 86 × 120 cm.
Jacopo Bassano Adoration of the Shepherds, 9 × 142 cm.
Giovanni Bellini Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine and Saint Mary Magdalene
Giovanni Bellini Martinengo Pietà
Giovanni Bellini San Giobbe Altarpiece
Paris Bordone Presentation of the Ring, 370 × 301 cm
Titian Pietà, 353 × 348 cm.
Paolo Veronese Battle of Lepanto, 169 × 137 cm
Paolo Veronese Mystical Marriage of St Catherine, 337 × 241 cm.
The collection includes Leonardo da Vinci's drawing of the Vitruvian Man, which is displayed only rarely as the work, being on paper, is fragile and sensitive to light. In 2019, the Musée du Louvre in Paris requested the loan of the drawing for its exhibition of works by Leonardo. The request was refused by a cultural heritage group. A court tribunal in Venice, however, decided that the work would suffer no ill effects if shipped with great care and displayed under controlled conditions. The work was, therefore, part of the Louvre's exhibition from 24 October 2019 to 24 February 2020.
