Gli elogi annuali all’Accademia di
Venezia dal 1808 al 1866: una forma
di Storia dell’arte, tra erudizione e
celebrazione
Paolo Pastres
This essay examines the annual elogi delivered at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts between 1809 and
1865, a distinctive genre of academic oratory commemorating past masters of the Venetian school on the
occasion of the prize-giving ceremonies. Situating this practice within contemporary art historiography—
notably Lanzi’s equation of “school” with academy and Cicognara’s parallel Storia della scultura—the
study traces how the elogi balanced celebration of major figures (Titian, Giorgione, the Bellini) with lesser
known “minor” masters, serving both didactic and moralising functions for students. It further shows how,
under Habsburg rule (1814–66), the choice of honorands extended deliberately across the wider Venetian
territory, reinforcing regional cohesion and loyalty to imperial patronage of the arts. An appendix lists the
complete series of orators and subjects.