A new incredible exhibition in Palazzo Ducale

Taking the large canvas by Carlo and Gabriele Caliari showing Doge Marino Grimani receiving the Persian ambassadors (1603) on display in the Sala delle Quattro Porte at Palazzo Ducale as its starting point, the exhibition aims to illustrate the excellent diplomatic relations in modern times between the Serenissima and Safavid Persia at the time of Shah Abbas the Great (1587-1629), at a time when both nations were intent on countering the threatening Ottoman expansion.

The exhibition will present a series of original 17th century documents bearing witness to the exchange of letters concerning renewed promises for collaboration, together with the sending of goods expressly requested by both sides. The papers showing the list of gifts the two states exchanged during diplomatic meetings are particularly interesting, especially as a trace of these remains in the collections of the various Venetian museums, including in the Fondazione Musei Civici. An important example is the precious Safavid velvet depicting the Virgin and Child offered by Shah Abbas the Great to Doge Marino Grimani on the occasion of the official visit of a Persian delegation to Venice in 1603. It is today housed in the Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo.

The exhibition will be opened till January 12, 2014.

For information ask@in-venice.com