PAINTED GOLD.
El Greco and the Art between Crete and Venice
From 30 April to 29 September 2025
Venice, Doge’s Palace – Doge’s Apartments
Curated by Chiara Squarcina, Katerina Dellaporta, Andrea Bellieni
MUVE Education activities for the exhibition
On the occasion of the exhibition PAINTED GOLD. El Greco and the Art between Crete and Venice, hosted in the Doge’s Apartments in the Doge’s Palace until 29 September 2025, MUVE Education has planned a guided itinerary aimed at adults and schools.
Guided itinerary
Painted Gold. El Greco and the Art between Crete and Venice
A golden thread links the historical and artistic events, the diplomatic balances and the devotion in the Mediterranean area along the route between Venice and Crete, or Candia as it was known from the thirteenth century, when it became the pearl of the Serenissima’s Stato da Mar. Painted gold, which makes icons shine with spiritual light, is the protagonist of the exhibition at the Doge’s Palace, and provides the backdrop to a long history of intense pictorial relations between the two islands. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Candia became the most important artistic centre for the ancient Byzantine tradition, which saw the involvement of over a hundred workshops of ‘madoneri’, especially iconographers producing popular devotional images. At the same time, Venice – like a new Byzantium – welcomed a growing influx of artworks and artists from the Aegean islands. Iconographers, or painters of icons, travelled or immigrated between Crete, the Ionian Islands, and the Venetian capital. This led to a unique synthesis between the native Byzantine courtly tradition – already an essential element of Venetian artistic heritage – and the Western figurative language, which evolved from late Gothic to the Renaissance, becoming more human-centred, naturalistic, and dynamic. A fortunate relationship developed and remained unbroken between the golden age of the Venetian Renaissance in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the early nineteenth century, marked by moments of always original symbiosis. The guided tour illustrates this unique pictorial journey through seven sections of the exhibition; at the heart of this fascinating narrative of history and painting stands the most famous and extraordinary figure of the ‘school’: Dominikos Theotokopoulos, or El Greco (1541–1614). Born in Crete, he began his training within the post-Byzantine tradition before making his way to Venice around 1567 – an essential step for artists of the time.
Audience: Adults – 1st and 2nd grade secondary schools, Higher Education System (universities etc.)
Duration: 1,30 h
Languages: Italian, English
How to participate
Educational activities can be booked online by clicking on the red “choose and book” button.
Costs
FOR ADULTS
Guided tours EUR 100 / group of up to 25 people
Requirements for admission
The group must purchase the exhibition entrance ticket at a reduced rate through the Call Centre 848082000 (open every day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.), indicating the booking code. Whisper service compulsory for groups of over 10 participants to be purchased separately, at the ticket office or through the call centre, at a cost of EUR 1 per person (the service is free of charge for any certified disabled accompanying persons).
FOR SCHOOLS
Active itineraries and workshops EUR 100 / class of up to 25 pupils + 2 teachers (plus any special needs teachers)
Requirements for admission
The cost of the activity includes admission to the exhibition for all classes of all levels, which must absolutely, however, be booked through the call centre 848082000 (open every day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.), indicating the booking code.
Free admission for accompanying teachers (max. 2) and/or accompanying persons of certified disabled persons.
WHISPER SERVICE: The Whisper Service, compulsory for groups of over 10 participants, is FREE for classes booking an activity, with 2 accompanying teachers and any accompanying persons of certified disabled people.
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INFORMATION AND CONTACTS
MUVE Education
T +39 041 2700370
education@fmcvenezia.it
#OroDipinto