Palazzo Erizzo Nani Mocenigo is a palace in

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 ...

located 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 and overlooking the Grand Canal between Palazzo Da Lezze and Palazzo Contarini delle Figure.

History

It was built by the Erizzo family in 1480 in the Venetian Gothic style and then passed to the Nani family (later Nani-Mocenigo) in 1537. The Nani family, included in the

Serrata del Maggior Consiglio The Great Council Lockout (Italian: ''Serrata del Maggior Consiglio'') refers to the constitutional process, started with the 1297 Ordinance, by means of which membership of the Great Council of Venice became an hereditary title. Since it was the ...

of 1297, moved from

Torcello Torcello ( la, Torcellum; vec, Torceło) is a sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon, in north-eastern Italy. It was first settled in 452 CE and has been referred to as the parent island from which Venice was p ...

to Venice in the 12th century and subsequently divided into three branches, the main of which died out at the end of the 18th century.

Architecture

The building has a ground floor with a water portal and two

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 ...

s decorated with

quadrifora Quadrifora is a type of four-light window. It appears in towers and belfries on top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings. The quadrifora can also be a group closely set windows. Overview The quadrifora is d ...

s flanked by pairs of

monofora Monofora is a type of the single-light window, usually narrow, crowned by an arch, and decorated by small columns or pilasters. Overview The term usually refers to a certain type of window designed during the Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance ...

s. The brick facade on the Grand Canal is divided vertically into three sections, each of which has late Gothic decorations: top flowers, trefoil window frames, serrated frames, and Corinthian capitals. The vertical edges of

Istrian stone Istrian stone, ''pietra d'Istria'', the characteristic group of building stones in the architecture of Venice, Istria and Dalmatia, is a dense type of impermeable limestones that was quarried in Istria, nowadays Croatia; between Portorož and Pu ...

, the string course, and two coats of arms of the Da Lezze family are also present on the facade. The most interesting element of the composition is the

on the first noble floor, decorated by a projected balcony, columns, elaborate shelves, and zoomorphic figures. The arched water portal is designed in Renaissance forms and disagrees with the overall Gothic ensemble. The facade also offers a large and recent

dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

—a symptom of a rear extension that added terraces above the roof. The rear facade overlooks a large garden and is decorated with zoomorphic

patera In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''phiale'' ( ) or ''patera'' () is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "bellybutton") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...

e. It has two central

trifora Trifora is a type of three-light window. The trifora usually appears in towers and belfries—on the top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings. Overview The trifora has three openings divided by two small colu ...

s surrounded by single-light windows.

Gallery

Palazzo Erizzo Nani Mocenigo Canal Grande Venezia.jpg, Facade details Canaletto (II) 022.jpg, ''Il Canal Grande'' by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

(1728). The palazzo is on the right side. Giovanni Antonio Canal, il Canaletto - Regatta on the Canale Grande - WGA03904.jpg, ''A Regatta on the Grand Canal'' by

(1740) CanalettoWasserfestCanalGrande.jpg, Engraving by Canaletto

References

{{Reflist Houses completed in the 15th century Palaces in Sestiere San Marco Gothic architecture in Venice

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References