PAINTED GOLD. El Greco and Art between Crete and Venice

April 30 to September 29, 2025

Palazzo Ducale - Doge's Apartments, Venice, Italy

A golden thread connects Venice and Crete—the "pearl" of the Venetian Stato da Mar—in a history rich with diplomatic, religious, and artistic interconnections. The current exhibition at the Doge's Palace is dedicated to the golden splendor of this iconographic tradition, which experienced its heyday in Crete following the Fall of Constantinople (1453).

Over a hundred Madoneri workshops defined this era. While Crete remained the center of Byzantine art, Venice served as a "New Byzantium", attracting artists and artworks from across the Aegean. This exchange fostered a unique synthesis: the Byzantine tradition merged with Western visual idioms, spanning the period from the Late Gothic to the Renaissance.

At the heart of this development stands Dominikos Theotokopoulos, known as El Greco. A native of Crete, he trained within the post-Byzantine tradition before his path led him to Venice around 1567—a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution. The exhibition’s seven sections guide visitors through these centuries, culminating in a technical material analysis of the icons, produced in collaboration with the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (CHNet).