Palazzi Barbaro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Palazzo Barbaro (with the grey facade) is photographed next to Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti in frontal view.
The Palazzo Barbaro (with the grey facade) is photographed next to Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti in frontal view.

The Palazzi Barbaro (also known as Palazzo Barbaro and Ca'Barbaro) are a pair of adjoining palaces built on the Grand Canal of Venice, formerly one of the homes of the noble Barbaro family.

Contents

[edit] History

The first of the two palaces is in the Gothic style and was built in 1425 by Giovanni Bon, one of Venice's master stonemasons. The second structure was executed in the Baroque style and was designed in 1694 by Antonio Gaspari, one of the finest architects of the 1600s [1]

Gaspari's addition was completed to house the Barbaro family's grand ballroom which included a magnificant interior of Baroque stucco work and master paintings of ancient Roman subject matter, such as Sebastiano Ricci's Rape of the Sabine Women and works by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta [2]. Henry James considered the Barbaro's ballroom to be the finest example of Venetian Baroque interiors, and the author also chose to include a description of the ballroom in his novel The Wings of the Dove.[3]

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 libray's ceiling was placed one of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's masterpieces The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, a painting that now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. [4]

"The Glorification of the Barbaro Family" Ceiling painting originally in the Palazzo Barbaro painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
"The Glorification of the Barbaro Family" Ceiling painting originally in the Palazzo Barbaro painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

The older palazzo was eventually bought by a relative of the painter John Singer Sargent, John Sargent Curtis, in 1885[5]. During this period, Palazzo Barbaro became the hub of American life in Venice with visits from Sargent, Henry James, Whistler, Robert Browning and Claude Monet. James finished his Aspern Papers in Palazzo Barbaro at a desk still housed in the palace today. Palazzo Barbaro was also used as the setting in the film adaptaion of Jame's novel The Wings of the Dove (film). The Palazzo has recentley undergone a full aesthetic and structural exterior restoration. [6].

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Alvise Zorzi, Venetian Palaces, Rizzoli, New york, 1989 ISBN 0-8478-1200-6; p. 222
  2. ^ Zorzi p.229
  3. ^ Zorzi p.230
  4. ^ Zorzi p.230
  5. ^ Venice Directions, Jonathan Buckley, Rough Guides, 2004, pg.136
  6. ^ The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto, Jonathan Buckley, Rough Guides, 2004, pg.184

[edit] External links

 This architecture-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Languages