From June 8 to 15, a small group of Save Venice patrons enjoyed a week of extraordinary art and bespoke visits during “Venetian Splendors of Prague and Princely Treasures of Dresden.”

Highlights included an evening at the Lobkowicz Palace and dinner with Prince William Lobkowicz at his ancestral home, the only private palace on the hill of Prague Castle; a before-opening hours visit to the St. Vitus Cathedral; a visit to Prague’s National Gallery with Frederick Ilchman and Thierry Morel, with much time to admire Albrecht Dürer’s Madonna of the Rose Garlands (originally commissioned by the German community in Venice for their church of San Bartolomeo a Rialto); time at the Library of Strahov Monastery; the Jewish Museum and famous Old Jewish Cemetery; modernist masterpieces at the Trade Fair Palace and more.

En route to Dresden, the group stopped at Duchcov, a Baroque estate in North Bohemia where Venetian traveler Giacomo Casanova spent the last years of his life as court librarian, writing his famous memoirs. In Dresden, Venetian paintings were a focus at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister including superlative works by Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, and the unrivaled collection of 18^th-century pastels by Rosalba Carriera. Senior Paintings Conservator, Dr. Christoph Schölzel, welcomed the group to the museum’s conservation lab and discussed the dramatic findings from his treatment of Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter.

In Dresden, the group also visited the Albertinium, the Porcelain Gallery, enjoyed an evening performance of Carmen at the Semper Opera House, and marveled at the metalwork and jewelry in the Green Vaults during an after-hours private visit. On the second-to-last evening, after taking in the stunning views of the Elbe River and towering rock formations at the Bastei from a staggering height, we witnessed a double rainbow, the best any of us had ever seen, stretching high across the horizon. Yet another masterpiece that won’t soon be forgotten by friends new and old.

The trip raised critical funds for art preservation in Venice. Save Venice is grateful to the participants, Anthony Worcester of Patron Travel, and those who offered special access to our group.