On DAY3, our expert guide will accompany you for a private tour of the “Peggy Guggenheim Collection”, the most important museums in Italy for European and American art of the 20th century. It is located in Peggy Guggenheim’s former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal in Venice. The museum presents Peggy Guggenheim’s personal collection, masterpieces from the Hannelore B. and Rudolph B. Schulhof Collection, the Nasher Sculpture Garden, as well as temporary exhibitions. Peggy Guggenheim was born in New York on 26 August and her career belongs in the history of 20th century art. Peggy used to say that it was her duty to protect the art of her own time, and she dedicated half of her life to this mission, as well as to the creation of the museum that still carries her name. The core mission of the museum is to present the personal collection of Peggy Guggenheim. The collection holds major works of Cubism, Futurism, Metaphysical painting, European abstraction, avant-garde sculpture, Surrealism, and American Abstract Expressionism, by some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. After a light you will hear the history of how the Duke and his council made decisions that controlled the fate of this 1,000-year republic. Immerse yourself in the European Middle Ages, and see masterpieces of art adorning the walls of the Doge’s Palace. Relive the anguish of the prisoners that crossed the Bridge of Sighs, and experience the inside of the prison cell that once hosted Giacomo Casanova. After your guided exploration of the Doge’n Palace, you will be taken on a tour of the inside of St. Mark’s Basilica. The Cathedral displays some of the finest examples of Byzantine art in the world, and is the only cathedral of its kind in Italy. Take in the beautiful golden mosaics and marble floor inlays. Learn about the Basilica’s history, and discover the Biblical symbolism behind the Cathedral’s art. Admire the Pala d’Oro, the high altar of the Basilica, decorated with thousands of gems and precious stones. Originally built to house the precious relics of St. Mark, which had been stolen by two merchants of Venice in Alexandria, Egypt, St Mark’s Basilica assumed the role of a cathedral only in 1807, after keeping for centuries the role of Palatine Museum of the Doge’s Palace.
