From 9 October 2026 to 17 January 2027, Gallerie d’Italia – Vicenza presents the exhibition “Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727–1804). A new world”, organised in collaboration with the Martin von Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg, curated by Valter Curzi, Carolina Brook and Fabrizio Magani, and under the patronage of the Municipality of Vicenza.

Marking the 300th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Venetian artist, the exhibition offers a wide-ranging survey of his work, from religious painting to the renowned print series Idee pittoresche and Divertimento per li regazzi, from drawings inspired by his father’s models to the so-called character heads, as well as his lively genre scenes.

The exhibition highlights Giandomenico’s extraordinary ability to observe and portray the world of his time, transforming scenes from everyday Venetian life into images of remarkable immediacy and intensity. Prestigious loans from leading Italian and international museums include The new world from the Prado Museum in Madrid, a work in which the artist depicts a crowd fascinated by what might be described as the first form of open-air cinema.

Villa Valmarana ai Nani, in Vicenza, frescoed by the Tiepolo family in 1757, is an extraordinary example of the collaboration between the father Giambattista and the son Giandomenico. Each followed his own distinctive style, creating a unique dialogue between the great Baroque tradition and modernity.

In the Palazzina, Giambattista explores themes drawn from Classical antiquity, while in the Foresteria his son addresses more contemporary subjects, ranging from scenes of the Venice Carnival to promenades, peasants, and Chinoiserie.

In his own frescoes, Giandomenico gives free rein to his imagination and depicts scenes brimming with modernity, gradually freeing himself from his father's influence. He devotes an entire room to the world of peasants, largely overlooked at the time, and introduces figures strolling through a pavilion designed in the new Neo-Gothic style. In Mondo Novo, in particular, masked figures are seen in the foreground with their backs turned to the viewer, while in the background Turks, Arabs, and Indigenous peoples arrive from the sea, only faintly sketched. Perhaps this represents the new world of ideas entering the Continent from across the sea.
Thanks to European funding, important restoration and conservation work has been carried out in recent years on the Woods and Gardens, which can now be visited again after three hundred years.

The seven frescoes on display at the Palladio Museum originate from the Palazzo Valmarana Franco in Vicenza. Created by Giandomenico Tiepolo in 1773, they were removed in 1945 to protect them from bombing. They are now owned by the State, ensuring they remain accessible to the public.

The frescoes tell several stories: those of two generations of artists, Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo, and their patrons; a reflection on the legacy of Andrea Palladio; and the defence of artistic heritage during the Second World War.

In 1757, Giustino Valmarana commissioned the Tiepolos – father and son – to decorate his villa just outside Vicenza. Sixteen years later, his son Gaetano enlisted Giandomenico Tiepolo to decorate his town residence, not far from the Teatro Olimpico. Here, Tiepolo reinterprets the scene of the famous Palladian theatre, adopting its classical style. Episodes from the life of Hercules are depicted within a painted architectural setting populated by satyrs, harpies, and allegorical figures, offering a vision of Palladianism that is both faithful and fantastical.

Palazzo Chiericati—a 1550 masterpiece by Andrea Palladio that was completed in the late 17th century—has housed the Civic Museum since 1855. Purchased by the Municipality in 1839 to house its art collections, the museum today offers a rich exhibition spanning from the 13th to the late 19th century, making it an ideal stop to round out a tour dedicated to Giandomenico Tiepolo.

The halls of the Chiericati keep the narrative of 18th-century Vicenza alive, featuring works ranging from Giambattista Tiepolo’s altarpieces for the Araceli church to paintings by Cignaroli, Dorigny, and Pittoni. The Gallery of Landscapes and Capricci evokes the atmosphere of an aristocratic residence through the works of Marco and Sebastiano Ricci, followed by a room displaying etched views by Cristoforo dall'Acqua.

On display is a painting by Giandomenico depicting Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius; this is a fragment of a likely much larger work belonging to a cycle that interprets the themes of the destruction of Troy and the flight of Aeneas, as recounted in Book II of the Aeneid.