spinner-caricamento
Share

Galleries of the Academy of Venice verified

Venice, Veneto, Italy closed Visit museumarrow_right_alt

fullscreen
Giorgio o Zorzi da Castelfranco, detto Giorgione - The storm
fullscreen
Giorgio o Zorzi da Castelfranco, detto Giorgione - The old
fullscreen
Giovanni Bellini - Madonna with child, Madonna with red cherubs
fullscreen
Tiziano Vecellio, detto Tiziano - Madonna and Child with Saint Joseph between Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria
fullscreen
Lorenzo Lotto - Portrait of a young gentleman
fullscreen
Jacopo Robusti, detto Tintoretto - San Marco frees a slave
fullscreen
Paolo Caliari, detto il Veronese - Banquet at Levi's house
fullscreen
Tiziano Vecellio, detto Tiziano - The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
fullscreen
Francesco Hayez - The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem
fullscreen
Giovanni Antonio Canal, detto Canaletto - Capriccio with ruins and Porta Portello in Padua
fullscreen
Giovanni Antonio Canal, detto Canaletto - Capriccio with ruins and classical buildings
fullscreen
Giovanni Antonio Canal, detto Canaletto - Perspective with porch
fullscreen
Antonio Canova - Bust of Leopoldo Cicognara
fullscreen
Giovanni Bellini - Madonna of the trees
fullscreen
Bernardo Strozzi, detto il Cappuccino - Doge Francesco Erizzo
fullscreen
Vittore Carpaccio - Dream of Ursula
fullscreen
Giambattista Piazzetta - Guess it
fullscreen
Antonio Vivarini - Madonna and Child
Giorgio o Zorzi da Castelfranco, detto Giorgione - The storm
Giorgio o Zorzi da Castelfranco, detto Giorgione - The old
Giovanni Bellini - Madonna with child, Madonna with red cherubs
Tiziano Vecellio, detto Tiziano - Madonna and Child with Saint Joseph between Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria
Lorenzo Lotto - Portrait of a young gentleman
Jacopo Robusti, detto Tintoretto - San Marco frees a slave
Paolo Caliari, detto il Veronese - Banquet at Levi's house
Tiziano Vecellio, detto Tiziano - The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
Francesco Hayez - The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem
Giovanni Antonio Canal, detto Canaletto - Capriccio with ruins and Porta Portello in Padua
Giovanni Antonio Canal, detto Canaletto - Capriccio with ruins and classical buildings
Giovanni Antonio Canal, detto Canaletto - Perspective with porch
Antonio Canova - Bust of Leopoldo Cicognara
Giovanni Bellini - Madonna of the trees
Bernardo Strozzi, detto il Cappuccino - Doge Francesco Erizzo
Vittore Carpaccio - Dream of Ursula
Giambattista Piazzetta - Guess it
Antonio Vivarini - Madonna and Child

Other works on display

Description

Coming from the Vendramin collection, where it was found until at least 1601 in the company of other autographs by Giorgione such as the Tempesta, the work was subsequently purchased by the merchant Cristoforo Orsetti, who remembers it in his will of 1664 and then passed by inheritance to the collection of the son of these, John the Baptist. Only later, on an unspecified date, did it pass into the Manfrin collections from where, in 1856, it was purchased by the Italian state along with other important paintings.

A cornerstone of Giorgione's limited catalog, the work still surprises today for the absolute peculiarity of its subject, an elderly lady depicted with extreme realism, her face marked by time with deep wrinkles and imperfect or missing teeth. From the Vendramin inventory of 1601, it is inferred that La Vecchia was preserved with a "blanket" (or that served for this purpose), depicting a male effigy, whose combined reading could help to understand its hidden meaning, perhaps even more complex. of a simple meditation on the theme of vanitas. Compared to the contemporary Venetian artistic scenario, Giorgione's revolutionary choice to devote himself to a similar theme with such a direct approach appears undoubted, certainly inspired on the one hand by Leonardo's studies (note the similarity between the Old Woman and the apostle Philip inside del Cenacolo di Santa Maria delle Grazie), on the other hand to some Nordic prototypes - think for example of the Portrait of a Young Man by Dürer of Vienna which had on the back a figure of an elderly woman with a lot of coins. It is plausible that the subject had a clear meaning for the commissioner of the work, probably Gabriele Vendramin himself, also considering the presence of the family crest on the ancient frame, a meaning to which the cartouche with the words "with time", likely incipit, could allude a quote or a message.


Discounts and prices’ reductions with the Artsupp Card

With the Artsupp Card you can get, for the first time, discounts and reduced entrance tickets for Italian museums .

Discover more

Other artworks in Venezia

Related searches

What you can find on Artsupp

Artsupp is the museums’ portal through which it’s easy to discover art, exhibitions and artworks. Now museums in France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain can also share their activities with users

About us