Gallery Talks: Venice Trips

The first two Gallery Talks Venice Trips this year were thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Here are some of my favourite photos of the beautiful city of Venice and the art, architecture and sculpture which filled our senses for four days in March and April.

The groups visited some of the most famous sights in Venice, as well as museums and churches seldom visited by tourists. Walking around its narrow streets and quiet squares, alongside picturesque canals and in peaceful areas was, we discovered, as rewarding as visiting its greatest monuments.

Whilst appreciating the ornate and colourful facades of palaces which line the canals, we experienced the contrasting distilled Classicism of Palladio’s serene churches, the Gothic fantasy of the Doge’s Palace, the decorative Baroque style of Longhena and the unique combination of Byzantine and Western architecture of the sumptuous Basilica of St Mark. We found the array of Venice’s architecture to be simply remarkable.

Included in our itinerary were trips to the evocative island of Torcello, with its ancient cathedral, and to the cheerful fishing village and brightly coloured houses of the island of Burano.

Primacy of visual sensibility was at the heart of the Venetian paintings we studied throughout the city, so many of which are still in situ in churches, and we fully appreciated that its painters showed how feeling is expressed by the drama of colour and light. Venetian art is saturated with bright and sunlit colours resulting in a richness at its core. Indeed, the fascination of the city has always depended on its unique light and the surrounding water which constantly modifies it. Some of the giants of the history of European art, who were Venetian painters, including Bellini, Giorgione and Titian, discovered how to evoke light, atmosphere and emotion in the medium of paint. Suffice to say that the sheer beauty of many of the paintings and mosaics we saw in Venice took our breath away!

We stayed in a charming hotel with stunning views in the delightful and secluded district of the Dorsoduro and experienced Venetian cuisine in many superb local restaurants.

I’m very much looking forward to the next two Gallery Talks Venice Trips, from 3rd until 7th October 2025, and from 19th until 23rd February 2026.