Arts & Culture · Our pick in Venice
Venice, the city of art: the back story
The back story
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Armin Kleiner · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsAbout Venice, the city of art: the back story
Venice’s painters, Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and Tiepolo, fill its churches, scuole and the Gallerie dell’Accademia. La Biennale has made the city a capital of contemporary art, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana bring modern art to the Grand Canal.
The old masters
The Gallerie dell’Accademia hold Venetian painting from the 14th to the 18th century; Tintoretto’s cycle fills the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and Titian’s Assumption rises over the high altar of the Frari.
The moderns
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is in Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal; the Pinault Collection shows at Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana; Ca’ Pesaro is the city’s modern art museum.
Start at the Accademia, then cross to the Guggenheim and the Punta della Dogana along Dorsoduro’s Museum Mile.
The Biennale
La Biennale di Venezia alternates its Art and Architecture exhibitions in the Giardini and the Arsenale. Biennale Arte 2026, “In Minor Keys”, runs until 22 November 2026.
Our advice: buy tickets on each museum’s own website, and save an afternoon for the Biennale while it is on.
Why it's on our list
- The old masters
- The moderns
- The Biennale
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Venice, the city of art: the back story before you go.