Overview
In 1999, on the initiative of Banca Intesa San Paolo, Palazzo Leoni Montanari in Vicenza was transformed into the eponymous Galleries, which opened their treasure trove of artworks to the public. The rooms of the Baroque palace, characterised by rich plastic and pictorial decoration on mythological themes, house a collection of 18th-century Venetian paintings, and more recently one of the most important collections of Russian icons preserved in the West. This unusual yet not incongruous pairing, given the cultural history of the Veneto region, creates a unique museum itinerary. On the one hand, the art collection on the main floor of the palace represents the last, sumptuous painting era of the Serenissima, with some of its most characteristic genres; on the other hand, the icon collection is an eloquent testimony to the deep links forged between the lagoon city and the territories of the Veneto hinterland with the civilisation of the Slavic and Byzantine East for several centuries.
