Fondazione dell’Albero d’Oro presents Nicolò Manucci, the Marco Polo of India. A Venetian at the 17th-century Mughal Court, an exhibition project dedicated to the life and travels of Nicolò Manucci (1638-1720).
Travel and adventure: Fondazione dell’Albero d’Oro invites the public to a new, fascinating exhibition directed by Béatrice de Reyniès. Nicolò Manucci, il Marco Polo deIl’India . The exhibition tells the story of the Venetian traveller and of his privileged point of view on the cultural riches of Moghul-era India. Of humble origins, Manucci (1638–1720) stowed away on a vessel aged a mere fourteen, in November 1653.
Two days into sailing, crew found him, and thanks to a rich passenger who took him in as servant, Henry Bard, he was allowed to stay. Eventually, Manucci reached Delhi and the court of Shah Jahan… Much later, as an old man, Nicolò Manucci decided to tell his own story and what he knew about the Moghul Empire. He also commissioned Indian artists a set of miniatures to go with the manuscripts. The exhibition will open on April 29 at Palazzo Vendramin Grimani.
