EXHIBITION "CA' D'ORO, CHEFS-D'OEUVRE DE LA RENAISSANCE À VENISE"

From November 30 to May 7, for its second temporary exhibition, the Al Thani collection at the Hôtel de la Marine is hosting an exhibition of exceptional collection of the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, which reflects the rich and varied visual culture of Venice, with particular emphasis on the Renaissance. Usually exhibited at Ca' d'Oro, one of the most admired late Gothic palaces in the "pearl" of the Adriatic Sea, the masterpieces found new light in a totally different location, that was highly appreciate by the team of the Palace.

Philippe Malgouyres, chief curator of the Department of Art Objects at the Louvre Museum, was in charge of the curation of the exhibition. Working on the lighting of the artwork under his leadership was fascinating for Akari-Lisa Ishii and their precise and well-argued exchanges, particularly based on the history of art, made it possible to enrich the exhibition with light.

This collection includes many statues, statuettes, sculptures, art objects, some oil paintings, a few textiles… So there were few restrictions on the illuminance level, but the lighting on 3D objects is always more complex, especially since in this museum there are technical contrains: the location of the spotlights is not very variable, no lighting fixture could be added in the huge display cases… In addition, the long curved display case in particular required attention because all the objects it contains are very different in terms of materials, colors etc. so we had to preserve uniformity while valuing each one differently.

Special treatment was given in the sculpture gallery, scenographed with midnight blue curtains (designed by BGC studio). We conserved the quite dark atmosphere in which the statues float in a somehow mysterious way. Also, the key elements were highlighted so to recall the night atmosphere in the Palazzo. For example, its corridors are represented by the tubes of curtains, caressed by moonlight.

Another remarkable detail was a custom-made gobo (light stencil) made to accentuate the St Mark Lion, as if it were flying in the sky. What a pleasure to illuminate Saint Sebastian, one of the most important pieces in the history of art. A great honor for our designer.