Curated by Guido Beltramini, Francesca Borgo, and Giulio Manieri Elia, the exhibition explores the conception of the human body in Renaissance Venice, addressing the body as an object of scientific study, desire, and a means of self-expression. The exhibition includes works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Dürer, Giovanni Bellini, and Giorgione, as well as scientific instruments, anatomical models, and everyday objects.
The exhibition features extraordinary works of art, some of which are presented in Italy for the first time, including drawings, paintings, and sculptures from the most prestigious museums and collections worldwide. The path is divided into three sections: The Unveiled Body: Knowing, which examines the body as an object of scientific study, featuring works such as Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man, part of the Gallerie dell’Accademia collection that returns to the public after six years, and Dürer’s Self-Portrait in the Nude, from the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and exhibited for the first time in Italy; The Naked Body: Desiring, which analyzes the representation of the body as an object of desire, with examples of female and male bodies in Renaissance portraits, including Titian’s enigmatic The Lovers, from the Royal Collection of Windsor; and The Constructed Body: Representing, which explores how the body was shaped according to social standards, focusing on clothing, surgery, cosmetics, and symbolic objects like a rare 16th-century casket.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by Marsilio.
