The Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art 1998: A Carpaccio Masterpiece Rediscovered

October 2011 - William R. Rearick, professor emeritus, University of Maryland. Following the disastrous Venice floods on November 4, 1966, the Venice Committee of the International Fund for Monuments was established to restore and preserve the artistic heritage of the city. In 1971 Sydney J. Freedberg and John and Betty McAndrew established Save Venice Inc., an American branch of the Venice Committee. Following Freedberg's death in 1997, Save Venice Inc. decided to restore a painting in his honor. Supper at Emmaus (1513), in the Church of San Salvador, was chosen for this project; restoration began in January 1998. In this podcast recorded on November 22, 1998, at the National Gallery of Art, Professor William R. Rearick discusses the ensuing process of attribution from Bellini to Carpaccio, including fitting the painting into the arc of Carpaccio's career.