Venetian paintings from the last 400 years have arrived in Beijing for the exhibition “Glory of Light and Colour. Four Centuries of Painting in Venice”. The show was officially opened at the National Museum of China in Tiananmen Square by Italian Ambassador to China, Ettore Sequi, and a delegation from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism led by the Director General of Museums, Ugo Soragni. The ceremony was also attended by the director of the National Museum of China, Lu Zhangshen.
The 77 paintings exhibited include works by the greatest names in Venetian painting, such as Tiepolo, Canaletto, Giorgione, Titian, Mantegna, Veronese and Tintoretto.
“The extraordinary artistic value of this exhibition bears further testimony to Italy’s innovative spirit and ability to succeed,” said Ambassador Sequi. “Indeed, I see in the beautiful works on display here that same capacity to experiment, innovate and succeed that I see in our modern manufacturing excellence.” The exhibition, continued Mr Soragni, seeks to “offer the cultured Chinese public a complete overview of Venetian art through the centuries.” With more than 70 works on display, he continued, “it will be possible to understand many of the aspects that characterise Venetian art.” The exhibition, which will run at the National Museum of China until October 2016, is the third event promoting Italy’s artistic heritage in China, after the exhibitions “Renaissance in Florence. Masterpieces and Protagonists” of 2012 and “Rome 17th Century: Towards Baroque”, which opened in 2014.