Capolavoro for Lecco – Family Lexicon. The Bellini Workshop and the Dawn of the Renaissance in Venice

From 6 December to 8 March 2026, Palazzo delle Paure will host the seventh edition of Capolavoro per Lecco, an event that will be inaugurated on 5 December at 5.30 pm at Palazzo delle Paure and promoted by the Pastoral Community and the Madonna del Rosario Cultural Association, in collaboration with the Municipality of Lecco.

This year’s choice has fallen on the Bellini workshop – father Jacopo and sons Giovanni and Gentile Bellini – Venetian artists who marked the beginning of the Renaissance in Venice with their work.

‘Lessico famigliare. La bottega dei Bellini e l’alba del Rinascimento a Venezia’ (Family Lexicon. The Bellini workshop and the dawn of the Renaissance in Venice) is the title of this edition, curated by Giacomo Alberto Calogero of the University of Bologna, which showcases three masterpieces housed in three different galleries:
· Jacopo Bellini’s Madonna and Child, a tempera painting on wood transferred to canvas, dating from around 1450 and housed in the Galleria dell’Accademia Tadini in Lovere
· The Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini, a tempera painting on wood, dating back to the artist’s earliest work between 1450 and 1460 and preserved in the Pinacoteca Malaspina in Pavia
· The Birth of the Virgin by the workshop of Jacopo Bellini with the direct involvement of his sons Giovanni and Gentile, a tempera painting on canvas, dating from 1465 and preserved in the Galleria Sabauda of the Royal Museums of Turin.

These are three works of great beauty, created in a relatively short period of time, which allow us to explore the influence that Jacopo‘s teaching had on his two sons Giovanni and Gentile, but also the inevitable stimuli that the two young heirs provided to their father’s art.

The exhibition therefore offers an in-depth look at family relationships within a “bottega” during the flourishing of the Renaissance period in Venice. It is no coincidence that the exhibition also features some examples of contemporary family craft businesses, collected by Susanna De Maron, Giorgio Melesi and Laura Polo D’Ambrosio.

Once again this year, “Capolavoro per Lecco” will be able to count on the valuable contribution of volunteers and around sixty high school students from Lecco involved in a PCTO project.

The exhibition, which will run until 8 March 2026, is the result of the creative interpretation of Giorgio Melesi, who has designed a very evocative layout that plays on contrasts of light and colour, and has also included a large space dedicated to workshops for schools and children.

A number of cultural and musical events will also be organised during the exhibition period.

Opening on 5 December at 5.30 p.m.