Palazzo Bonfadini Vivante is a palace in

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

located in the

Cannaregio Cannaregio () is the northernmost of the six historic ''sestieri'' (districts) of Venice. It is the second largest ''sestiere'' by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people . Isola di San Michele, the historic cemetery island, ...

district and overlooking the Cannaregio canal. The neighboring buildings are

Palazzo Savorgnan Palazzo Savorgnan is a palace in Venice, Italy, located in the Cannaregio district and overlooking Canale di Cannaregio, to the right of Palazzo Priuli Manfrin. Attribution Built in the 17th century for the noble Savorgnan family, the palazzo i ...

and

Palazzo Testa Palazzo Testa is a small Gothic palace in Venice, Italy, located in the Cannaregio district and overlooking the Canale di Cannaregio. History The palazzo was built in the 15th century but underwent numerous alterations between the 16th and 19t ...

History

The palace was built in the 16th century to be a residence of the Bonfadinis, a family of Tyrolean merchants who joined the Venetian patriciate. In the mid-17th century, the present façade was completed. In the 19th century, the Jewish family of the Vivantes settled in the palazzo, initially as a tenant, giving the building its second name. In the first half of the 20th century, the building suffered a prolonged degradation until the new owners carried out an important restoration in the 1990s.

Architecture

The façade of the palazzo is rather simple, of three levels and an attic on top. The structure has two rectangular portals on the ground floor flanked by square windows. The second

noble floor 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 hous ...

is decorated with the most important element, a

serliana A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...

with a metal parapet. The first noble floor below has a similar layout with smaller quadrangular openings, also with parapet. Finally, the façade terminates with a thin

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

led cornice and stringcourse. The palazzo interiors are of notable artistic value, decorated with artworks made between the 18th and 19th centuries by Giuseppe Castelli,

Giuseppe Borsato Giuseppe Borsato (14 February 1771 in Venice – 15 October 1849 in Venice) was an Italian painter, primarily of vedute. Known for his work as the architect, decorator, and painter to the French Imperial Court in Venice. Life and works From ...

, and Giambattista Canal.

References

{{Coord, 45.4444, 12.3235, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Houses completed in the 16th century Bonfadini Vivante Renaissance architecture in Venice