Sacred and prophane art: the "Madonna with child" by Bellini, which belonged to the Contini Bonacossi collection, with her sweet motherly look towards the sleeping child, is put together with the sensual and at the same time enigmatic "Sybil" by Palma il Vecchio in the wall in front of the entrance to the exhibition "Da Bellini a Tiepolo. Great Venetian painting from the Sorlini Foundation", open until 26 February at the Correr Museum. This choice by the organizer Daniela Ferretti could be maybe malicious, but it is exact from a philological point of view, as it is representative of the double soul of Venetian painting in its most classical period, and very enjoyable from an aesthetic point of view. They are two major works, like the other fifty on show, all paintings which belong to the private collection were put together in around half a century by entrepreneur Luciano Sorlini, in order to enrich his houses of Carzago della Riviera (Brescia), of Palazzo Grimani at San Polo (Venice) and of the Montegalda Castle (Vicenza). They are showed to the public for the first time. Sorlini prefers pictorial painting, it doesn’t matter if it is sacred or prophane, as long as the quality is saved. The period goes from the XV up to the XVIII century, with just one successful anticipation: the "Pietà" of Nicoletto Semitecolo (XIV century), an artist of Venetian origin but working in the area of Padova, a canvas originally put in the town’s cathedral, byzantine in the approach to figures and in the use of gold but modern in the power of the Virgin and Saint John’s sorrow; it was set to the place of honour in the hall, next to Bellini and Palma il Vecchio. Filippo Pedrocco, organizer of the exhibition, presents a section dedicated to the classical period, where we can find works by Diana; an unusual "Escape to Egypt" by Savoldo, a "Holy Family" by Domenico Campagnola and on the hedonistic side, a "Leda and the swan" by Padovanino.

Of great importance, also considered its until now scarce representativeness in public collections, is the sixteenth century chapter with the pagan mythologies and the stretched figures of Giulio Carpioni; with the hallucinatory visionary power of a Sebastiano Mazzoni and good displays by Pietro Vecchia and Francesco Maffei, recognized masters of the light and shadow technique.

The most represented century is nonetheless the Seventeenth century, where Sorlini’s love for figures makes some rare but meaningful concession to the landscapes of Carlevarijs, Zais and Francesco Guardi and to a caprice by Canaletto. To the main group belong the two interiors of Venetian aristocrat houses with figures by Pietro Longhi and the angel playing the trumpet by Giambattista Tiepolo, a classic of his style. It is also worth mentioning the couple of rounds with stories of Rebecca by Giambattista Pittoni, brought together in the Sorlini collection after having been lost; another couple of rounds, of high artistic value, are the Bacco and the Flora by Gaspare Diziani. There is also Francesco Guardi, but he is present with his early pictorial production, more and more revalued recently: a mystic San Vincenzo Ferrer and, most of all, a Deposition rich in pathos and light effects, which is confronted with a preparatory drawing kept at the Correr museum, the only publicly owned work of the whole exhibition.