Ca' Loredan Vendramin Calergi is a 15th-century palace on the
Grand Canal in the ''
sestiere
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of ().
Formed a ...
'' (quarter) of
Cannaregio
Cannaregio () is the northernmost of the six historic ''sestieri 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, is associate ...
in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, northern
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It was commissioned by the patrician
Loredan dynasty, namely
Andrea Loredan, and paid for by
Doge Leonardo Loredan
Leonardo Loredan (; ; 16 November 1436 – 22 June 1521) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian nobleman and statesman who reigned as the 75th Doge of Venice from 1501 until his death in 1521. As a wartime ruler, he was one of the most important do ...
, with construction starting in 1481. The architecturally distinguished building was the home of many prominent people through history and was the place where composer
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
died.
It houses the Venice Casino (''Casinò di Venezia'') and the Wagner Museum (''Museo Wagner'').
History
Ca' Vendramin Calergi was designed in the late 15th century by
Mauro Codussi, architect of
Chiesa di San Zaccaria and other noteworthy churches and private residences in Venice. Construction began in 1481 and was finished after his death by the
Lombardo family of architects, who completed it in 1509. The twenty-eight-year period it took to complete construction is considered short based on the technology available at that time.
The spacious
Renaissance-style palace stands three stories high with direct access to the
Grand Canal available by
gondola
The gondola (, ; , ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a scul ...
s. The beauty and balance of the building's
façade
A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face".
In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
are exceptional. Classically inspired columns divide each level facing the canal. Two pairs of tall
French doors divided by a single column topped by
arch
An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
es and a
trefoil
A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture, Pagan and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with f ...
window rest above the doors on the
piano nobile
( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...
and upper levels. Opulent paintings, sculptures, and architectural details originally filled the building's interior. Baroque master
Mattia Bortoloni decorated the ceilings of many rooms. The palace is locally known by the nickname "
Non Nobis Domine" ("Not unto us, O Lord"), which is engraved in the stone under a ground-floor window, and which is considered the motto of the
Loredan family.
Andrea Loredan, a
connoisseur
A connoisseur (French language, French Reforms of French orthography, traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge ...
of the fine arts, commissioned the palace, which was paid for by the
doge,
Leonardo Loredan
Leonardo Loredan (; ; 16 November 1436 – 22 June 1521) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian nobleman and statesman who reigned as the 75th Doge of Venice from 1501 until his death in 1521. As a wartime ruler, he was one of the most important do ...
. In 1581, the Loredan heirs of Andrea sold it for 50,000
ducat
The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...
s to
Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg who took loans to afford it and to host sumptuous dinners for the
Venetian nobility. However, the duke kept it for only two years before selling it to
Guglielmo I Gonzaga,
Marquis of Mantua
The Marquisate or Margraviate of Mantua () was a margraviate centered around the city of Mantua in Lombardy (historical region), Lombardy. Ruled by the House of Gonzaga, Gonzaga family from its founding in 1433, it would later be raised to the ra ...
, who then sold it to Vittore
Calergi, a Venetian noble from
Heraklion
Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...
on the island of
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
. Calergi greatly expanded the building in 1614 with a large addition by architect
Vincenzo Scamozzi
Vincenzo Scamozzi (2 September 1548 – 7 August 1616) was an Italians, Italian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most importan ...
called the "White Wing" which included windows overlooking a garden courtyard. The addition was demolished in 1659 and rebuilt the following year. In 1739, the palace was inherited through marriage by the
Vendramins, a powerful patrician family of merchants, bankers, religious leaders, and politicians, who owned it for more than a century.
In 1844,
Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, Duchess of Berry, and her second husband, Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, Duke della Grazia, purchased Ca' Vendramin Calergi from the last member of the Vendramin family line. In the turmoil of the
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...
, they were forced to sell the palace to Caroline's grandson,
Henry (Enrico), Count de' Bardi, and many of its fine works of art were auctioned in Paris. Count de' Bardi and his wife
Infanta Adelgundes and the related Dukes of Grazia maintained the home and hosted many famous names of the day. In 1937, the last of the Grazia nobles, Count Lucchesi-Palli, sold it to
Giuseppe Volpi, Count of Misurata, who remodeled the living quarters and turned it into a Center for Electromagnetic and Electrical Phenomena.
The City Council of Venice purchased Ca' Vendramin Calergi in 1946. Since 1959, it has been the winter home to the celebrated Venice Casino (''Casinò di Venezia'').
Wagner Museum

The composer
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
stayed in Venice six times between 1858 and his death. He arrived in Italy on his final trip not long after performances of his opera ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...
'' premiered at the second
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...
. He rented the entire piano nobile (mezzanine) level of the Ca' Vendramin Calergi from
Count de' Bardi before his departure and arrived on 16 September 1882 with his wife
Cosima Liszt
Francesca Gaetana Cosima Wagner (; 24 December 1837 – 1April 1930) was the daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt and Franco-German romantic author Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of the German composer Richard ...
, four children (
Daniela von Bülow, Isolde, Eva and
Siegfried Wagner
Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner (6 June 18694 August 1930) was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930.
Life
Siegfried Wagner ...
) and household servants.
Wagner died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in the palace on the afternoon of 13 February 1883 at age 69. A memorial plaque on a brick wall adjacent to the building is inscribed with a tribute by novelist and poet
Gabriele d'Annunzio that reads:
:''In questo palagio / l'ultimo spiro di Riccardo Wagner / odono le anime perpetuarsi come la marea / che lambe i marmi''
The Wagner Museum (''Museo Wagner'') opened at the palace in February 1995. It holds the Josef Lienhart Collection of rare documents, musical scores, signed letters, paintings, records and other heirlooms. The holdings constitute the largest private collection dedicated to Wagner outside of
Bayreuth
Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...
. The museum is open to the public on Saturday mornings by appointment.
The Associazione Richard Wagner di Venezia operates the museum as well as the Richard Wagner European Study and Research Center (''Centro Europeo di Studi e Ricerche Richard Wagner – C.E.S.R.R.W.''). It also holds exhibitions, conferences and concerts, and publishes scholarly papers that promote the life and works of Wagner.
The
International Association of Wagner Societies also holds a symposium called "Wagner Days in Venice" (''Giornate Wagneriane a Venezia'') at the palace each autumn.
[Richard-Wagner-Verband International, ''Giornate Wagneriane a Venezia'', "Wagner Days in Venice"]
See also
*
List of music museums
*
List of buildings and structures in Venice
Notes
External links
Casinò di Venezia / Venice CasinoWagner MuseumCa' Vendramin Calergi History, photographs, and a virtual tour
{{authority control
Houses completed in 1509
Historic house museums in Italy
Museums established in 1995
Museums in Venice
Music museums in Italy
Vendramin Calergi
Vendramin Calergi
Richard Wagner
*
*
House of Vendramin