A masterpiece of the Venetian Renaissance is back in the spotlight in Venice: the Pietà (or Dead Christ Supported by Four Angels) by Giovanni Bellini (Venice, 1430 - 1516), from the City Museum in Rimini, is presented for the first time in the spaces of the Giorgio Franchetti Gallery at Ca’ d’Oro after its last exhibition at the Doge’s Palace in 1949. The work has undergone significant restoration promoted and funded by Venetian Heritage, an international nonprofit organization with offices in Venice and New York that, for more than twenty-five years, has supported initiatives dedicated to the protection and dissemination of Venetian art through restoration, exhibitions, publications, research and cultural programs.
From Nov. 21, 2025, to Jan. 6, 2026, the dossier exhibition will place Bellini’s Pietà with Saint Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna (Isola di Carturo, 1431 - Mantua, 1506) in dialogue. The exhibition, curated by Toto Bergamo Rossi, director of Venetian Heritage, and Giovanni Sassu, former director of the Luigi Tonini Museum of the City of Rimini and now head of the Cento Museums, will offer a close comparison between two emblematic works of the Renaissance season.
The initiative is the result of a collaboration between Venetian Heritage, the Veneto National Museums Regional Directorate, the Giorgio Franchetti Gallery at Ca’ d’Oro, Rimini Musei and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. It is precisely the Morgan Library that will play a central role in the enhancement of the restoration: in fact, from January 15 to April 19, 2026, it will host a U.S. leg of the exhibition, where the Pieta will be related to a selection of masterpieces from the Morgan collection.
Once the Venetian and New York exhibitions are over, the painting will return to the City Museum of Rimini, where it will again be presented alongside Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian. The initiative stems from the temporary closure of the Ca’ d’Oro, which is currently undergoing the final phase of museum renovations, also supported by Venetian Heritage.
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| Bellini's restored Pietà displayed for the first time at Venice's Ca' d'Oro for a dossier exhibition |
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