The Palazzi Barbaro—also known as Palazzo Barbaro, Ca' Barbaro, and Palazzo Barbaro-Curtis—are a pair of adjoining

palaces A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whic ...

, in the

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), 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 Piazza San Marco, Saint ...

district of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, northern Italy. They were formerly one of the homes of the patrician

Barbaro family The Barbaro family was a Patricianship, patrician family of Venice. They were wealthy and influential and owned large estates in the Veneto above Treviso.Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1', Jane Turner, New York, 200 ...

. The Palazzi are located on the

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 Lucia ...

, next to the

Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti is a palace in Venice, Italy, not far from the Ponte dell'Accademia and next to the Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal of Venice. Since 1999 it has been the seat of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti and f ...

and not far from the

Ponte dell'Accademia The Ponte dell'Accademia is one of only four bridges to span the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, which from 1807 to 2004 was housed in the ...

. The buildings are also known as the Palazzo Barbaro-Curtis.�
"Venice on foot, with the itinerary of the Grand Canal and several direct routes to useful places”
Hugh A Douglas, C. Scribner's Sons, 1907, pg. 282 It is one of the least altered of the Gothic palaces of Venice.“Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”
Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 112J

History

Ludwig Passini - The Salone of the Palazzo Barbaro

The first of the two palaces is in the

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

style and was built in 1425 by

Giovanni Bon Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

, one of Venice's master stonemasons.Alvise Zorzi, ''Venetian Palaces'', Rizzoli, New York, 1989 ; p. 222 It belonged to Piero Spiera in the early 15th century, passing through several hands before being acquired by Zaccaria Barbaro,

Procurator of St Mark's The office of Procurator of Saint Mark ( Venetian: Procurador de San Marco) was one of the few lifetime appointments in the government of the Venetian Republic and was considered second only to that of the doge in prestige. Da Mosto, ''L'Archivio d ...

in 1465. The second structure was executed in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style and was designed in 1694 by

Antonio Gaspari Antonio Gaspari was an Italian architect of the late-Baroque, active in both Venice and the terrafirma of the Veneto. He was a pupil of Baldassarre Longhena, and upon his master's death in 1682, he completed some of his projects, including Longhena ...

, one of the finest architects of the 17th century. This building was originally two stories and belonged to the Tagliapietra family. In the 16th century, they gave the

permission to build on top.

made enlargements to the building from 1694 to 1698. Gaspari's building housed the Barbaro family's

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

which included a magnificent interior of Baroque

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

-work, paintings of ancient Roman subject matter, such as

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Cortonesqu ...

's ''Rape of the Sabine Women'' and works by

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (also called Giambattista Piazzetta or Giambattista Valentino Piazzetta) (February 13, 1682 or 1683 – April 28, 1754) was an Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes. Biography Piazzetta was ...

. In the 18th century an elegant library was created on the 3rd floor of the palace with a ceiling that incorporated a rich stucco design. In the center of the library's ceiling was placed one of

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...

's masterpieces ''The Glorification of the Barbaro Family'', a painting that now resides in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York.Zorzi p.230 Tiepolo's frescoes have all been removed. While the Palazzo remained the

’s property, they did not always live there. In 1499 it served as the French Embassy to the Republic of Venice. In 1524, Isabella d’Este, widow of

Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua Francesco II (or IV) Gonzaga (10 August 1466 – ) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death. Biography Francesco was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga. Francesco had a career as a condottiero act ...

and the sister of

Alfonso I d'Este Alfonso d'Este (21 July 1476 – 31 October 1534) was Duke of Ferrara during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai. Biography He was the son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Eleanor of Naples and became duke on Ercole's death in ...

was living at the Palazzo Barbaro. Tiepolo, Giambattista - The Glorification of the Barbaro Family

In 1797 the Palazzi belonged to Senator Zuanne Barbaro. After the Barbaro family died out in the middle of the 19th century, the Palazzo was bought by a series of speculators who auctioned off furniture and paintings. In 1881 the older palazzo was rented by a relative of the American painter

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

Daniel Sargent Curtis Daniel Sargent Curtis (1825–1908) was an American lawyer and banker. He was a trustee of the Boston Public Library, director of the Boston National Bank and owner of Palazzi Barbaro, Venice. Early life Curtis was born in Boston, Massachuset ...

, who purchased it in 1885. Daniel and Ariana Curtis repaired and restored the Palazzo Barbaro, and it became a center of American artistic life in Venice with visits from Sargent, their son

Ralph Wormeley Curtis Ralph Wormeley Curtis (August 28, 1854 – February 4, 1922) was an American painter and graphic artist in the Impressionist style. He spent most of his life in Europe, where he was a close associate of his distant cousin, John Singer Sargent, ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, Whistler,

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

and

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

. Other members of the "Barbaro Circle" included

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large h ...

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

Isabella Stewart Gardner Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was a leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual cur ...

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

, and

Charles Eliot Norton Charles Eliot Norton (November 16, 1827 – October 21, 1908) was an American author, social critic, and Harvard professor of art based in New England. He was a progressive social reformer and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries c ...

. Henry James finished ''

The Aspern Papers ''The Aspern Papers'' is a novella by American writer Henry James, originally published in ''The Atlantic, The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1888, with its first book publication later in the same year. One of James's best-known and most acclaimed lo ...

'' at a desk that is still housed in the palace today. James considered the Barbaro ballroom the finest example of a Venetian Baroque interior, and included a description in his novel ''

The Wings of the Dove ''The Wings of the Dove'' is a 1902 novel by Henry James. It tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her effect on the people around her. Some of these people befriend Milly with honourable ...

''. In 1898, John Singer Sargent painted a group portrait of the Curtis family in the salon, titled ''An Interior in Venice''. Isabella Stewart Gardner had her portrait painted at the Barbaro by

Anders Zorn Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish painter. He attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. Among Zorn's portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three American ...

in 1894. Palazzo Barbaro was used as a location in the 1981 television series

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...

as the home of Lord Marchmain and his mistress, and also used as a location in the 1997

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of ''The Wings of the Dove''. The Palazzo has recently undergone a full aesthetic and structural exterior restoration.J. Buckley, pg.184

Notes

External links

{{coord, 45.4317, N, 12.33, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Barbaro Barbaro Barbaro family Gothic architecture in Venice Buildings and structures completed in 1425 Houses completed in the 15th century Houses completed in 1425

History

See also

Notes

External links