The House of Grimani was a prominent Venetian

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

family, including three

Doges of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 a ...

. They were active in trade, politics and later the ownership of theatres and opera-houses. Notable members included:

Notable members

Domenico Grimani Domenico Grimani (19 February 1461 – 27 August 1523) was an Italian nobleman, theologian and cardinal. Like most noble churchman of his era Grimani was an ecclesiastical pluralist, holding numerous posts and benefices. Desiderius Erasmus d ...

: (1461-1523) (Cardinal Patriarch of Venice), owner of the Grimani Breviary (below). * Antonio Grimani: Doge 1521-1523. * Vincenzo Grimani: Cardinal and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

(1652-1710) *

Morosina Morosini-Grimani Morosina Morosini-Grimani (1545 - January 21, 1614) was a Venetian patrician. She was the Dogaressa of Venice from 1595 to 1606. Life Morosina Morosini-Grimani was the daughter of Andrea Morosini, a wealthy Venetian patrician. She married in 1 ...

(1545-1614) dogaressa of Venice by marriage to Doge Marino Grimani *Domenico Grimani: (Bishop and Patriarch of Aquileia, 1498-1517) * Marino Grimani: (Bishop and Patriarch of Aquileia, 1517-1529) * Marino Grimani: Doge 1595-1606. *Giovanni Grimani: translator of

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

. *Giorgio Grimani (fl. 1728), commander of the Venetian Fleet (Latin: ''Classis Praefectus'') in 1728, as recorded on a mural monument on the defensive wall of Corfu Town built by him. * Pietro Grimani, Doge 1741–1752. *

Elisabetta Grimani Elisabetta Grimani (died 31 August 1792 in Treviso) was the last Dogaressa of Venice by marriage to the Doge Ludovico Manin ( 1789–1797). Biography Elisabetta Grimani was the daughter of Antonio Grimani. She married Ludovico Manin on 14 Septembe ...

(d. 1792), dogaressa 1789-1792. *

Edmund Grimani Hornby Sir Edmund Grimani Hornby (29 May 1825 – 17 November 1896) was a leading Jewish-Italian British judge, with family interests in diamond-rich Antwerp. He was the founder and Chief Judge of both the British Supreme Consular Court at Constantinopl ...

(1825-1896) Chief Judge of the British Supreme Consular Court at Constantinople and British Supreme Court for China and Japan was descended from the Grimani family on his mother's side.

Structures

The following structures are associated with the family: * Villa Gazzotti Grimani: (Vicenza, by Palladio) * Palazzo Grimani: (

Grand Canal of Venice The Grand Canal ( it, Canal Grande ; vec, Canal Grando, anciently ''Canałasso'' ) is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. One end of the canal leads into the lagoon near the Santa Luc ...

) *

Palazzo Civran Grimani Palazzo Civran Grimani is a Neoclassical palace in Venice, Italy. The palazzo is located in the San Polo district, overlooking the Grand Canal at the confluence with Rio della Frescada, between Palazzo Dandolo Paolucci and Palazzo Caotorta-Anga ...

*Grimani Chapel:

San Francesco della Vigna San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, northern Italy. History Along with Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, this is one of two Franciscan churches in Venice. The site, originally a vineyard (''v ...

, Venice *

Teatro Malibran The Teatro Malibran, known over its lifetime by a variety of names, beginning with the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (or Crisostomo) after the nearby church,Lynn 2005, pp. 101—103 is an opera house in Venice which was inaugurated in 1678 with a ...

- see below

The Grimani Breviary

The Grimani Breviary, long in the library of

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Saint Mark's Square, that was never admin ...

and the

Biblioteca Marciana The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark ( it, italic=no, Biblioteca Marciana, but in historical documents commonly referred to as ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositori ...

, Venice, is a key work in the late history of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

illuminated manuscripts. It was produced in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

and

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

ca 1515-1520 and by 1520 owned, though possibly not originally commissioned, by Cardinal Domenico Grimani. Several leading artists, including

Simon Bening Simon Bening (c. 1483 – 1561) was a Flemish miniaturist, generally regarded as the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition. Bening, born either in Ghent or Antwerp, was probably trained by his father, illuminator Alexander Bening, i ...

, the

Master of James IV of Scotland __NOTOC__ The Master of James IV of Scotland (''fl.'' ca. 1485 – ca. 1526) was a Flemish manuscript illuminator and painter most likely based in Ghent, or perhaps Bruges. Circumstantial evidence, including several larger panel paintings, i ...

and

Gerard David Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...

, contributed some of their finest work to it.

Theatre entrepreneurs

All the main Venetian theatres were owned by important patrician families; combining business with pleasure in the Italian, if not European, city with the most crowded and competitive theatrical culture. When most opera in Europe was still being put on by courts, "economic prospects and a desire for exhibitionistic display", as well a decline in their traditional overseas trading, attracted the best Venetian families to invest in the theatre during the 17th century. The Grimani were dominant, owning what is now called the

, then called the

Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo The Teatro Malibran, known over its lifetime by a variety of names, beginning with the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (or Crisostomo) after the nearby church,Lynn 2005, pp. 101—103 is an opera house in Venice which was inaugurated in 1678 with a ...

, as well as the ''San Benedetto'' theatre, and other houses. The

Venier Venier is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andrea Venier, castellan of Scutari * Annibale Venier (born 1951), an Italian rower * Anton Venier, Austrian luger *Antonio Venier (c. 1330–1400), Doge of Venice * Cecilia Venier-Baff ...

s owned La Fenice, still the main opera house. The

Vendramin The House of Vendramin (, ) was a rich merchant family of Venice, Italy, who were among the ''case nuove'' or "new houses" who joined the patrician class when the '' Libro d'Oro'' was opened after the battle of Chioggia (June 1380). Andrea Ve ...

owned the important ''Teatro di San Luca'' or ''Teatro Vendramin'', founded in 1622, later renamed the ''Teatro Apollo'', and since 1875 called the '' Teatro Goldoni'', which still thrives as the city's main theatre for plays, now in a building of the 1720s. In the age of

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: * Carlo (name) * Monte Carlo * Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...

, the greatest Venetian dramatist, only the San Luca and the Malibran still put on spoken drama, and his desertion of the Grimani for the Vendramins at San Luca in 1752 was a major event in the theatrical history of the period, ushering in perhaps his finest period, in which as well as his comedies, he played a significant role in the development of the

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

.Martin Banham, ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre
p. 433
1995, Cambridge University Press, The Vendramins, who had considerable direct involvement in the management of the theatre, had a sometimes uneasy relationship with him, arguing over money and the style of his plays, until he left for Paris in 1761, as a result of a dispute with his rival, Carlo Gozzi. However the Vendramin did not take their involvement as far as Vincenzo Grimani, who was a cardinal and opera librettist.

Notes

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