When most people think of 害羞草研究所渃arpaccio,害羞草研究所� they think of the thinly sliced raw beef appetizer made famous by Venice害羞草研究所檚 iconic Harry害羞草研究所檚 Bar. Few people know that the dish is named for a lesser-known Venetian, the Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio, because of the intense red hues he favored.
Carpaccio the painter has recently received more attention outside his native Venice. In November, the National Gallery in Washington inaugurated the first retrospective exhibit of his work outside Italy. The show, 害羞草研究所淰ittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice,害羞草研究所� is set to move to Venice害羞草研究所檚 showcase Palazzo Ducale on March 18.
The Washington exhibit includes two Carpaccio paintings that left Venice for the first time in more than 500 years.
害羞草研究所淎t first, we were a bit hesitant, because allowing these masterpieces to leave their natural habitat is always a risk,害羞草研究所� said Piergiorgio Millich, the grand guardian of the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavon fraternity.
The Venice institution, also known as the Scuola Dalmata, or Dalmatian School, has 10 Carpaccio paintings, the most still under the roof of the same place that originally commissioned the artist害羞草研究所檚 work.
Art conservator Valentina Piovan analyzed the works and undertook a yearlong restoration before she convinced the institution that some of the canvases could safely make the journey to Washington.
Piovan is now working on restoration of several other Carpaccios in the headquarters of the fraternity, which was founded in 1451 by a group of Venetians as a social center providing medical and spiritual support for members 害羞草研究所� mostly sailors in the republic害羞草研究所檚 naval fleet. When the fleet defeated the Ottomans in the Turkish-Venetian wars, they were paid handsomely.
As a result, they were able to hire one of the most prominent Venetian painters of his time, Carpaccio, to paint a series of paintings dedicated to St. George, the legendary figure who slayed a dragon, saved a princess and convinced the Selenites to convert to Christianity.
In the first painting in the cycle 害羞草研究所淪aint George and the Dragon,害羞草研究所� a masterpiece more than three meters (around 10 feet) long, Carpaccio paints the saint on horseback with his lance thrust into the mouth of the dragon and the ground littered with the body parts of partially devoured humans. The princess, dressed in a 害羞草研究所渃arpaccio害羞草研究所� red robe, clasps her hands together in gratitude as she watches the scene from a rocky outcropping above.
It is classic Carpaccio, a combination of narrative storytelling and attention to detail.
And it clearly was an inspiration for Giuseppe Cipriani, the Venetian restauranteur and owner of Harry害羞草研究所檚 Bar, who invented a dish named for the painter in the 1950s. According to the official Harry害羞草研究所檚 Bar history, Cipriani had a customer, Contessa Amalia Nani Mocenigo, whose doctors had prescribed a strict diet without cooked meat.
Cipriani came up with a dish of sliced raw beef with a sauce of mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce, and named it after the painter in part because of its ressemblance to his favorite reds that were on exhibit in Venice at the time.
害羞草研究所淚 think people are starting to get an appreciation of paintings, Venetian paintings, from the very beginning of the 16th century, and also learn maybe where the word carpaccio,害羞草研究所� came from, said Melissa Conn, director of the Venice office of Save Venice, an American nonprofit which has provided $400,000 for the restoration of several Carpaccio works.
Trisha Thomas, The Associated Press
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