Check below the most visited exhibitions in Italy in 2013 (list compiled by Arte magazine).
1. The most visited exhibition in Italy in 2013 was the 55th edition of Venice’s La Biennale, the most important exhibit of contemporary art in Italy. Named “Il Palazzo Enciclopedico” (The Encyclopedic Palace), it exceeded 475,000 visitors, largely outperforming all other exhibits. The event has been called the "Biennale of backpacks" by president Paolo Baratta for the high number of visitors under 25 years old.
2. In the second position, surprisingly, is a retrospective of contemporary Chinese artist Zhang Huan, “L’anima e la materia” (The Soul and the Matter), held in two locations, at the Pitti Palace and Forte Belvedere in Florence, with a turnout of more than 208,000 people.
3. The first exhibition of classical art to appear in the list is the one dedicated to a master of Renaissance art and of Venetian painting of the 15th century, “Tiziano” (Titian), at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome (204,000 visitors), with masterpieces arriving from museums around the world.
4. “Manet, Ritorno a Venezia” (Manet, Return to Venice), held at the Doge's Palace in Venice: 80 paintings, drawings and engravings by the Impressionist artist.
5. “Modigliani, Soutine e gli artisti maledetti, collezione Netter” at the Palazzo Reale in Milan: 120 works of art, in Italy for the first time, from the Paris collection of Jonas Netter.
6. “De Nittis”, Palazzo Zabarella, Padua: the most important exhibition ever organized about 19th century painter Giuseppe De Nittis.
7. “Brueghel, la meraviglia dell’arte fiamminga” (Brueghel, the wonder of Flemish art), at the Cloister of Bramante in Rome: an exhibition about the story of an important dynasty of Flemish artists that lasted 500 years.
8. “Pietro Bembo, l’invenzione del Rinascimento” (Pietro Bembo , the invention of the Renaissance), Palazzo del Monte di Padova: one of the greatest collection of early Renaissance art put together by Pietro Bembo at the end of the 15th century.
9. “Da Botticelli a Matisse, volti e figure” (From Botticelli to Matisse, faces and figures), at the Gran Guardia in Verona.
10. Closing the top ten is “Impressionisti a Palazzo Pitti” (The Impressionists at Pitti Palace): masterpieces by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Degas, on loan from several collections in Paris, including the Musée d’Orsay.
While we look forward to another year of extraordinary exhibitions, starting with one currently on view in Rome about Roman emperor Augustus, we want to know if you made it to any of the exhibitions above and what you thought.
