First chapter of an extensive exhibition and cultural project that the Fondazione Giorgio Cini dedicates to the most famous Venetian of the eighteenth century, the exhibition retraces the relationship between Casanova and his city — the stage for his first adventures and encounters that would shape his life.  Curated by the Institute of Art History with the contribution of the Institute of Theatre and Opera, the exhibition brings together nearly one hundred works – paintings, engravings, books, objects and documents – from the Foundation’s collections and major Italian and European institutions. The result is a multifaceted portrait: Casanova as a writer, traveller, alchemist and keen observer of a refined yet contradictory century that ended with the fall of the Serenissima.
The exhibition is part of a wider cultural programme involving all the Foundation’s institutes, with conferences, concerts and seminars. It is complemented by the second chapter, Casanova and Europe. Opera in Several Acts, at the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore (17 October 2025 – 2 March 2026), created in collaboration with Fondazione Teatro La Fenice.