VENICE.- A masterpiece of the Venetian Renaissance is being shown for the first time in the spaces of Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro: Giovanni Bellini’s Pietà (or Dead Christ Supported by Four Angels) (Venice, 1430–1516). Usually housed in the Museo della Città in Rimini, the painting returns to Venice after its last display in the city at Palazzo Ducale in 1949, thanks to a major restoration initiated and funded by Venetian Heritage, an international non-profit organization with offices in Venice and New York. For 26 years, Venetian Heritage has supported cultural initiatives through restorations, exhibitions, publications, conferences, studies, and research, with the aim of promoting worldwide the immense artistic heritage of Venetian art in Italy and in territories once part of the Serenissima.

The work is the focus of a dossier exhibition open to the public from November 21st, 2025, to January 6th, 2026, putting Bellini’s Pietà in dialogue with Andrea Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian (Isola di Carturo, 1431 – Mantua, 1506). The exhibition is curated by Toto Bergamo Rossi, Director of Venetian Heritage, and Giovanni Sassu, former Director of Museo della Città di Rimini Luigi Tonini, now Director of Musei di Cento.

The exhibition is promoted by Venetian Heritage, the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto, Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro, Rimini Musei, and The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. The latter institution will be directly involved in promoting the restoration: from January 15th to April 19th, 2026, the Morgan Library will host the American venue of the dossier exhibition, where Bellini’s Pietà will be displayed in dialogue with masterpieces from the Morgan’s collection. Finally, the painting will return to Museo della Città in Rimini to be exhibited alongside Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian. The occasion arises from the temporary closure of Ca’ d’Oro for the final phase of the museum’s renovation, funded by Venetian Heritage.

“This exceptional restoration project pursues the goals of the Venetian Heritage Foundation, which since 1999 has been funding, coordinating, and promoting major restoration projects, exhibitions, and publications devoted to Venetian art not only in Venice, but also throughout its former territories.” says Toto Bergamo Rossi, director of Venetian Heritage Foundation “The Pietà was commissioned from Giovanni Bellini by a notable citizen of Rimini, although the master most likely never traveled there himself. This attests to the importance and renown of Venetian painting during the second half of the Fifteenth Century, which was exported far beyond the borders of the Serenissima.”

THE HISTORY

The Pietà was commissioned from Giovanni Bellini by Rainerio di Lodovico Migliorati, counselor to the ruling Malatesta family and a prominent figure in the political and cultural life of Rimini during the last third of the Fifteenth Century.

Dating from the 1470s, the work is already mentioned in Rainerio’s 1499 will. Judging from its style, dimensions, and iconography, the painting was likely intended for private devotion in Migliorati’s palace, and only after his death it was placed in his family’s funerary chapel in Sant’Antonio Church, near San Francesco Church today known as Tempio Malatestiano, the architectural masterpiece by Leon Battista Alberti. The commission itself tells of the close ties between the Malatesta dominions in Rimini and the Republic of Venice. Rainerio Migliorati played an active role in developing and strengthening these connections, making numerous trips to Venice. It was likely during one of these visits, perhaps in 1470, that the commission for the painting was finalized, and possibly that Migliorati met the artist in person.

From Migliorati's Chapel, the Pietà was soon moved to San Francesco Church, where Giorgio Vasari mentions it in the 1550 edition of The Lives of the Artists. It remained there until the early 1800s, when it entered the collections of Rimini’s Pinacoteca Comunale.

Considered one of the masterpieces of Rimini’s city collections, the panel left the city for the first time in 1929 to be shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in London for the Exhibition of Italian Art 1200-1900. Over the years it was loaned on many occasions, including the great Giovanni Bellini exhibition held at Palazzo Ducale in Venice in 1949, curated by Rodolfo Pallucchini and with exhibition design by Carlo Scarpa.

“The cultural initiative made possible by the prestigious collaboration with the Venetian Heritage Foundation is of great significance for our city for more than one reason,” states the Mayor of Rimini, Jamil Sadegholvaad. “Beyond the objective value of the restoration project — which today thanks to the mastery and expertise of the specialists, allows us to rediscover one of the masterpieces our Museum has the privilege of safeguarding — this ‘Bellini journey’ represents for Rimini a renewed awareness of how art and culture can drive growth and serve as the foundation for a community’s future. Its arrival in New York, a cosmopolitan metropolis symbolizing endless possibilities, gives us the opportunity to bring further momentum to this narrative and to fuel this vision.”

THE RESTORATION

The conservation history of the Pietà is complex and marked by crucial interventions, most notably the 1969 restoration by Otello Caprara and Ottorino Nonfarmale, which required the drastic but necessary removal of the original wooden support. This radical operation became indispensable because the panel had been severely damaged by wood-boring insects and by a previous “Florentine-style” parquet backing (added in 1930), which had accelerated its deterioration. The painted surface was therefore transferred onto a new reticulated aluminum support. The recent intervention, promoted by Venetian Heritage and carried out by Lucia Tito of the renowned CBC-Conservazione Beni Culturali conservation firm, in the laboratories of Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro, focused exclusively on cleaning and aesthetic revision, confirming the full stability of the current support. Old and invasive overpaint and the heavily yellowed varnish, which distorted the color balance, were removed. The restoration also reintegrated the central crack and corrected a misinterpretation of an angel’s gesture, demonstrating that the figure was not holding a nail. Scientific analyses confirmed the consistency of Bellini’s palette and documented the preparatory underdrawing executed with a brush, allowing the painting to regain its legibility and chromatic harmony.

THE DOSSIER EXHIBITION: BELLINI AND MANTEGNA BETWEEN VENICE, NEW YORK, AND RIMINI

The Pietà thus returns to Venice after more than seventy years to engage in dialogue with one of the Renaissance masterpieces housed at Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro. The exhibition brings together two pivotal works of the Renaissance, offering a deep exploration of their shared cultural background—including their knowledge of Piero della Francesca’s work and, crucially, their assimilation of Donatello’s lessons during his time in Padua (1443–1453)—as well as their distinct artistic languages. The connection between the two masters adds another fascinating layer to this comparison: Mantegna married Nicolosia, Giovanni Bellini’s sister, joining one of Venice’s most important families of painters. The multi-venue exhibition, taken as a whole, aims to reconstruct the context of the intense cultural exchanges that connected centers such as Venice and the Adriatic region, helping to strengthen artistic and stylistic relations during this crucial period.

The exhibition design reinforces this dialogue between Mantegna and Bellini: the display is set up at the entrance to the museum’s piano nobile, where visitors will encounter a darkened space in which the Pietà stands out thanks to precise lighting design. To its right, the recently restored Mantegna Chapel reveals the refined scenography of its architectural space, amplifying the expressive power of the dramatic Saint Sebastian.

The initiative also has a strong international dimension. From January 15th to April 19th, 2026, the Pietà will be on view at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. This important transfer is supported by Venetian Heritage, which, through its American branch, continues to promote the artistic and cultural legacy of the Serenissima on an international scale.

In New York, Bellini’s masterpiece—an interpretation of the long tradition of sacred icons infused with the classicism and humanism of the Renaissance—will be displayed in the evocative West Room, the historic private study of Pierpont Morgan, one of the 20th century’s great art collectors. In this context, the painting will be shown alongside other Italian Renaissance masterpieces in the Morgan’s collection, including sculptures by Antonio Rossellino and paintings by Perugino, Francesco Francia, and Cima da Conegliano, as well as works by Northern masters such as Hans Memling, whose influence on Italian Fifteenth-century art was profound. Bellini’s Pietà in this setting highlights a deep symbolic connection: the painting, an exceptional example of Renaissance artistic patronage, forms a conceptual bridge between two great collections, that of Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro and that of Pierpont Morgan, both dedicated to the preservation and celebration of artistic heritage on a global scale.

Over the course of 2026, the Pietà will return to Rimini to resume its place in the city museum and for the final stage of the dossier exhibition. This will also provide the opportunity for an exceptional loan of Andrea Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian, allowing the dialogue between the two artists to continue through these important museum masterpieces and deepening the study of the cultural exchanges that historically connected Rimini and Venice.

The occasion arises from the temporary closure of all the interior spaces of Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro for the final phases of the museum’s restoration and reinstallation work.

THE RESTORATION AND REINSTALLATION OF GALLERIA GIORGIO FRANCHETTI ALLA CA’ D’ORO

This major undertaking reflects Venetian Heritage’s commitment to enhancing not only individual artworks but also museums and cultural institutions in Venice through close collaboration between public and private sectors. Funded by Venetian Heritage in collaboration with the Giulio and Giovanna Sacchetti Foundation, with a total investment of 8.5 million euros, the restoration and reinstallation project began in 2023 and will be completed in May 2027.

The work has been carried out in several phases to ensure the museum remains open to the public as much as possible. On the main floor, the renovation of interior plasterwork, maintenance of wooden ceilings, restoration of the marble loggias, Venetian floors, and window frames, as well as upgrades to the electrical, lighting, heating, and climate control systems—essential for the preservation of artworks—have all been completed. A full closure is now required to allow crucial work on the second floor, the main staircase, and the new entrance. At the same time, the project includes a complete reinstallation of the permanent collection, designed to meet the needs of contemporary visitors.

“The restoration of Giovanni Bellini's Pietà and the accompanying exhibition provide an opportunity to highlight the fruitful collaboration between public and private entities, forming part of the wider project to renovate Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, which the Ministry of Culture is carrying out with the support of Venetian Heritage. The exhibition initiative is part of a broader collaboration between the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto and Rimini Musei, aimed at studying the historical, cultural, and artistic relationships between Venice and Rimini during the Renaissance.” states Daniele Ferrara, Director of the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto.

“This initiative — adds Claudia Cremonini, Director of Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro — is also a concrete sign of the reactivation of Ca’ d’Oro's restoration laboratory, established after the 1966 flood and now undergoing a reorganization process that is advancing in parallel with the museum’s renewal.”

The restoration of the Pietà and the accompanying exhibition are a perfect example of the virtuous collaboration between public and private entities and international institutions. The initiative, the starting point for a wide-ranging cultural operation, celebrates the comparison between Bellini and Mantegna, retracing the roots of the Padano-Veneto Renaissance, and is part of the larger project to renovate Ca' d'Oro. The subsequent stop at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York not only promotes the work globally but also reinforces the commitment to spreading the artistic legacy of the two masters, projecting the history and significance of the 15th century onto the world stage.