Magical plants in Venice: A Botanical Exhibition at Biblioteca Marciana
Telling the story of Venice as botanical and culinary melting pot
An exhibition we’ve been waiting for is taking place this spring: If you’re in Venice right now, you can visit it at Biblioteca Marciana until 2 April 2023: You’ll discover Venetian gardening culture and botanical heritage in a book series written in the 16th century:
Pietro Antonio Michiel (1511 - 1565) is the autor of this book series called I Cinque Libri delle Piante, a treasure trove for everyone interested in Venetian garden history, and the plants Venetians used to make medical remedies and beauty products. These books were partly written in Latin, and a few chapters in Greek.1
A few years ago, I was lucky to have been invited into what has remained of Michiel’s own botanical garden in the Venetian sestiere Dorsoduro:
To this day, this garden plot, although much smaller than it was in the 16th century, looks like a tropical paradise: one is welcomed by a jungle-lined path, creating a thick barrier protecting sensitive exotic plants from the sun.
Below you can read my article about this visit to Michiel’s giardino orto botanico:
I was so excited when the exhibition Giardini e virtù medicinali, salute e bellezza tra passato e presente, curated by Sabrina Minuzzi (Università Ca’ Foscari), was opened in Venice on 11 February 2023, at the Sale Monumentali of Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.
Also 29 - 30 March 2023, a scientific conference is held at Biblioteca Nazionale about gardens and their remedies: Matera Medica: Health and Beauty in the Early Modern Age.
In short, this exhibition presents Venetian botanical heritage in an inspiring manner and grand environment: You’ll discover the notion of piante magiche - magical plants, alchemia, and the incredible plant variety of gardens Venice boasted in the 15th and 16th century.
And there’s even a “plant game” to discover, created by a well-known Venetian artist studio, explaining the concept of “magical plant” and which plants (or rather, spices!) Venetians used to produce health and beauty products for centuries.