Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.

  • Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.

Timeline

Overview

Northern Italy remains a flourishing artistic center during this period, even as its political and economic stature gradually declines over the course of two centuries. Venice is still a cultural capital of Europe, home to great masters of painting such as Tiepolo and Canaletto and the architect Longhena; it also cultivates a thriving new theatrical form—the opera—and an educational and touristic phenomenon known as the Grand Tour. Meanwhile, Genoa gives rise to a notable school of painting, Turin becomes an important architectural center, and the celebrated Academy in Bologna founded by the Carracci continues to train artists in a classical tradition. In addition, many foreign artists are attracted to Northern Italy for the wealth of commissions its prosperous aristocratic families affords. By the end of the period, Venice—once the region’s supreme power and a giant in European commerce—loses almost entirely its foothold in the Mediterranean and falls, with much of the area, as spoils of the French Revolutionary wars.

Citation

“Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=09&region=eustn (October 2003) 

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