Venetian Masters

A trip to the towns were some of Italy's most revolutionary artists were born

Mountains of talent

Pieve di Cadore is a peaceful little town lying at the feet of the Dolomites. In the heart of its historic center, by appointment, visitors are granted access to the house where Tiziano Vecellio, one of the most famous of Italy's painters best known internationally as Titian, was born.
This typical "Cadorino" style edifice has acquired National Monument status. Also worthy of visit are the splendid Palazzo della Magnifica Comunità di Cadore and the Eye Glass Museum.

With its fascinating collection of over 2000 spectacles, some of which date all the way back to the middle ages, Pieve di Cadore's Glasses Museum is a real eye-opener!

The desert of the Tartars

Following the flow of the Piave river, we head southwards to Belluno, where the writer Dino Buzzati was born, and beyond, in to the heart of the alluvial plain of Treviso.

At Lentiai we stop so as to visit the 15th century Church of St Maria Assunta, in which a great number of renaissiance artworks by local painters are conserved.

Not far from here lies Feltre, a city rich in artistic treasures, many of which dating back to its period under the rule of the Serenissima. Visitors are bound to spend time in Piazza Maggiore, the main square and historical heart of the city, admiring Feltre's characteristic Palazzetti Cingolani, behind which the form of the city's Alboino Castle rises up majestically.

Statues, villas and secret gardens

Skirting around Monte Grappa, theater of the First World War Battle of Mount Grappa, after some thirty kilometers or so we reach Possagno, birthplace of Antonio Canova. This is where to find the temple, erected by the great 18th century sculptor in person and the house in which he was born.

The Canova Musuem conserves the original plaster casts of all of the artist's most famous works.

The town of Asolo has its own fair share of important religious and public buildings, such as the Cathedral, dating back to medieval times, the Regina Castle, and the Loggia del Capitano, now home to the Civic Museum and an impressive collection of works by Canova and Canaletto.

Considered one of the most beautiful towns in the whole of Italy, Asolo boasts both an attractive historic center and gorgeous surroundings in which to find numerous elegant villas, home to the artists and musicians who once resided in the area, such as the Villa Cipriani, preferred abode of the romantic poets, Elisabeth and Robert Browning.

From here onwards and throughout the plains of Veneto, the Palladian villas abound. At Maser, just 7kms from Asolo, there is the magnificent Villa Barbaro, complete with secret garden realized to the rear of the main body of the building. At Fanzolo we find Villa Emo: another architectural masterpiece which bears Palladio's signature.

A number of scenes of the 2002 movie "Ripley's Game", starring John Malkovich, were filmed in Villa Emo.

Symbol of Castelfranco Veneto, important town within the province of Treviso and birthplace of Giorgione, is its beautifully conserved red brick castle.

The artistic history of the town gravitates around the great painter born within its walls; in addition to the statue of Giorgione erected in the piazza which bears his name, the Cathedral houses one of his most important works, the Madonna and Child between St. Francis and St. Nicasius, also known as the Castelfranco Madonna and The Pala of Giorgione.