Palazzo Barbarigo is a palace situated facing 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 ...

, Italy. It is not to be confused with the Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto and

Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza The Palazzo Barbarigo dalla Terrazza is a Renaissance-style palace on the Grand Canal, across the Rio San Polo from the Palazzo Cappello Layard and adjacent to the Palazzo Pisani Moretta in the sestiere of San Polo, in Venice, Italy. In 2015, ...

, both also on the Grand Canal, and other palazzi, and several villas, once owned by the

Barbarigo family The Barbarigo were a patrician, noble Venetian family, whose members had an important role in the history of the Republic of Venice. History The family originated from the Istrian area (according to the tradition, their ancestral place was Mu ...

. According to an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (Russia), the property, together with a part of adjacent palazzo, belongs to Russian conductor

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...

. It is a small part of the vast inheritance of the philanthropist

Yoko Nagae Ceschina (5 April 1932 – 10 January 2015) was a Japanese-born patron of the arts and noted patroness of classical music. Biography Born in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, to a businessman father and mother who played the piano domestically, Yoko Nagae was ...

, who died in 2015.Documentary about Gergiev‘s estate in Italy, USA and Russia:

History

Originally built in the 16th century, it is distinguished by its

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s of

Murano glass Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...

applied in 1886. At the time it was owned by the proprietors of one of the glass factories, who were inspired by the exterior mosaics on the facade of

St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...

to apply those to the palace. When the mosaics were installed, the then new owners were decried by their more

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

ic neighbours as ''nouveaux riches'', and their taste garish and out of keeping with the genteel decay of the neighbouring buildings. However, it should be remembered that many of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

palazzi on the canal were once too covered in

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

and gilt decorations, with elaborate

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

and

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. Later during the 1920s, Palazzo Barbarigo served as the headquarters of Pauly & C. – Compagnia Venezia Murano, one of the oldest glass factories in Murano. Part of the Palazzo Barbarigo is today a showroom and shop for Murano glass. The palazzo follows the Renaissance pattern of design on three floors: an open

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

gives access to the canal surmounted by a

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...

with open loggias and decorated columns, with a "''secondo piano nobile''" (secondary floor) above. The comparatively modern mosaics probably cover original windows, and obliviate the original design.

Notes

External links

Satellite image from Google Maps
(on the south bank of the Grand Canal, just to the right of the wide north-south canal) {{coord, 45.431, N, 12.3306, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Houses completed in the 16th century Barbarigo Barbarigo Renaissance architecture in Venice