Museo Correr

Museo Correr Review

This world-fampus museum of Venetian art and history contains an important sculpture collection by Antonio Canova and important paintings by Giovanni Bellini, Vittore Carpaccio (Carpaccio's famous painting of the Venetian courtisans is here), and other major local painters. It's the main repository of Venetian drawings and prints, which, unfortunately, can be seen only by special arrangement. It also houses curiosities such as the absurdly high-sole shoes worn by 16th-century Venetian ladies (who walked with the aid of a servant). The city's proud naval history is evoked in several rooms through highly descriptive paintings and numerous maritime objects, including ships' cannons and some surprisingly large iron mast-top navigation lights. The museum also has a room devoted entirely to antique games. The Correr exhibition rooms lead directly into the Museo Archeologico, which houses the Grimani collection—an important 16th- and 17th-century collection of Greek and Roman art—and the Stanza del Sansovino, the only part of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana open to visitors.