Until January 12, 2026, the Fortuny Museum hosts the exhibition “Antonio Beato. Return to Venice – Photographs between Travel, Architecture, and Landscape”, curated by João Rocha, Marco Ferrari, and Cristina Da Roit, in collaboration with the IUAV University of Venice and the University of Évora, under the patronage of the Portuguese Embassy in Italy.
The exhibition celebrates the extraordinary work of Antonio Beato (1825–1906), a Venetian-born photographer whose images of Egypt’s temples, cities, and landscapes remain milestones in 19th-century photography. Together with his brother Felice Beato, Antonio was among the first to document the Middle East and Asia through the lens, capturing scenes that bridged documentary rigor and poetic vision.
After traveling through the Mediterranean and Asia, Antonio settled in Cairo around 1860, where he devoted four decades to photographing the architecture and archaeological heritage of Egypt — from the grandeur of Abu Simbel to the intricate Mamluk monuments of Cairo. His meticulous compositions, often collected in albums alongside works by Bonfils, Zangaki, and Sébah, fascinated the European elite and helped shape the Western imagination of the Orient.
Nearly two centuries after his birth, this exhibition brings Beato’s work back to his homeland, showcasing rare vintage prints from Italian and international collections. Set within the evocative spaces of Palazzo Fortuny, the show also draws a symbolic parallel between Beato and Mariano Fortuny, who retraced similar paths in Egypt decades later, documenting his journeys through photographs and sketches — now displayed for the first time.
A dialogue between past travelers, Return to Venice reveals photography as both discovery and reflection — a bridge between cultures, times, and ways of seeing.
Website: www.visitmuve.it
Location: Fortuny Museum, Venice
Schedule: until January 12, 2026
