Jan Fabre in Venice: three bronze works at the Scuola Grande di San

Jan Fabre in Venice: three bronzes in conversation with Tintoretto

From 9 May to 22 November 2026, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice presents The Quiet Source, an exhibition by Jan Fabre featuring three silicon-bronze sculptures installed in relation to Tintoretto's monumental cycle. The project coincides with the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia.

Concept and installation

Curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Katerina Koskina, the show stages a reflective dialogue between contemporary sculpture and Renaissance painting. The three works are aligned along the building's central axis, forming a symbolic spine that links rooms and establishes thematic resonances around light, spirituality and memory.

Material and light

Fabre employs silicon-bronze, a material whose luminous surface amplifies light and produces a presence that converses with the dramatic lighting traditions of Venetian painting. This material choice reinforces the visual exchange between sculpture and the historic pictorial environment.

The three sculptures

• The Man Who Holds the Sword (Oath of My Father): opening on the ground floor, this work depicts a figure raising a sword in a solemn oath, evoking knightly archetypes and themes of protection.
• The Artist as a Stray Dog in His Basket: a central piece where autobiographical traces meet symbolic imagery related to the artist's persona.
• The Man Who Cuts the Grass: completes the trilogy that investigates family, memory and personal mythology.

Together the three sculptures form a trilogy that contains personal references: two of the figures recall the faces of Fabre's father and of a brother who died in infancy, adding an intimate, memorial layer to the installation.

Why visit

The exhibition is a major cultural event in Venice for the season: it offers a contemporary reading of light and the human figure within one of the city's most historically significant spaces and creates a cross-century conversation between artistic languages.

Practical information

Dates: 9 May — 22 November 2026. Location: Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice. Check the Scuola Grande di San Rocco's official channels for visiting hours and booking details.