In the late 19th century, within the grand rooms of Palazzo Barbaro overlooking Venice's Grand Canal, Boston banker Daniel Sargent Curtis and his wife Ariana Wormeley Curtis restored historic interiors by recovering ceiling frescoes and stuccoes. They curated a collection that reflected the cultured, cosmopolitan taste of late-century Venetian estates. Masterpieces from the Venetian and Bolognese schools stood alongside 18th- and 19th-century Venetian furniture, fine carpets, porcelain, and Asian art, embodying a vision of international collecting where Venice was not merely a destination, but a setting to shape one's cultural identity.
To this day, the grand salon houses masterworks by Giambattista Piazzetta, Sebastiano Ricci, and Antonio Balestra, showcasing the brilliant 17th- and 18th-century era of Venetian painting. On September 29, a prestigious selection from the Curtis Collection will be auctioned by Wannenes. The centerpiece of the sale is the celebrated "Curtis Madonna", a Madonna and Child dated to around 1538 and attributed to the early career of Jacopo Robusti, known as Tintoretto.