NATIONAL ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM - VENICE ITALY || ART COLLECTIONS AND HISTORY - PART 1

The National Archaeological Museum was established in 1523 by Cardinal Domenico Grimani who left as an inheritance to the Republic of Venice a group of ancient sculptures from his private collection. Most of these works came from a vineyard near the Quirinal in Rome, where the Cardinal built his own house. His nephew Giovanni Grimani dedicated himself from the year 1563 to the expansion and decoration of the corridors of the mansion with the goal of creating an ideal setting for the exhibition of his collection. This collection was housed on the first floor of the building and consisted of almost 200 Greek and Roman sculptures that were placed in the central hall. The collection includes Roman sculptures belonging to his family, a group of marbles from the area of the Continental Venice and the coast of Istria as well as some ancient sculptures of Greece. In 1587 this collection was donated to the Republic of Venice and later it was dictated that all the marbles belonging to the Grimani were housed in the entrance room of With the death of Grimani, the Senators of the Republic commissioned the design and configuration of the collection to Federico Condorini. With the support of the Council of Ten and some grandchildren of the Patriarch, some sculptures were abandoned at Grimani Palace while others were transferred to the public sanctuary. The decoration was finished in 1596 thanks to donations from the same Federico Condorini. Through the years there were numerous donations increasing the collection and in 1811 some statues had to be exhibited in the Doge's Palace. During World War I the works housed in the Doge's Palace were transferred to Florence until 1919 and 1920 that returned to Venice. During these years they adapted the Procuratian Woven where they have remained for years and artistic currents until our days. The National Archaeological Museum of Venice is located next to the Courier Museum and the Marciano Library. It is located in Saint Mark's and is home to an important collection of ancient sculptures. It has several original Greek, bronze, ceramic, jewels and coins as well as the archaeological collection given by the Courier Museum containing Egyptian and Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities. This museum is of a collector nature and includes a complete collection of works of the 16th century acquired by well-known Venetian families. This is a museum that tells the story of a city of art and its collections donated over the years. Not so long ago Carlo Antibes between 1923 and 1926 carried out the exhibition of the works of the Archaeological Museum that was enlarged by Bruno Ferlati between 1949 and 1954 after the donation of the archaeological collections of Theodore Courier in 1939. In 1961 this museum was further enriched after the post-war Italy Yugoslavia accords with the collections of ceramics, glass and jewels of the Museum of Estonato of Zara.