Ca’ Rezzonico
Towards the middle of the 17th century, the project for Palazzo Rezzonico was entrusted by Filippo Bon, Procurator of San Mark, to the most famous architect of the time, Baldassarre Longhena. But Longhena was unable to see his work completes: in 1682, when he died, the majestic façade onto the Grand Canal, with its triple door onto the water, had only reached the first floor. On the other hand, the rear of the building, which faced onto Campo San Barnaba, had been completed and the family had taken up residence. However, as a result of economic problems, Filippo Bon’s heirs were obliged to sell the palace, which should have become the symbol of their centuries-old activity as entrepreneurs.
The façade of Palazzo Rezzonico on the Grand Canal
It was purchased in 1751 by the Rezzonico family, who originated from Lombardy and had recently acquired a noble title (in 1687) after paying a sizable sum into the exhausted coffers of the Republic. Giorgio Massari was commissioned to complete the building. The young architect made some changes to the original project, especially in the second floor facing onto the Grand Canal. He also created an imposing entrance from the street with an impressive staircase leading up to the ballroom on the first floor. The ballroom was an unusual size and style and also in an unusual position by comparison with the traditional layout of Venetian buildings.
The magnificent ballroom on the first floor of Palazzo Rezzonico
The work had to be done in a great hurry, because the palace was to house the splendid festivities and celebrations that accompanied the election of Carlo Rezzonico, Bishop of Padua, as Pope under the name of Clement XIII in 1758. Inventories of the goods contained in the palace illustrate what a splendid life the Rezzonico family led. Within the brief space of 50 years, they counted two cardinals (appointed by Clement XIII Rezzonico himself, who was famous for his nepotism) and a Procurator of San Mark. But the family’s fortunes lasted little more than half a century and in 1810 the family itself died out. From then onwwards the palace passed through a number of hands, some famous like Carlo Pindemonte, relative of Ippolito Pindemonte, the poet, and Robert Barret Browning. Browning jr. died in 1889, in what had been the private apartments of Pope Clement XIII. In 1934 the palace was purchased by the Municipality of Venice for use as a Museum of the Eighteenth Century.
The corner of Ca’ Rezzonico, onto the Grand Canal
The Rezzonico family furniture was almost entirely sold off, but the splendid frescoes and stucco-work were preserved. They now provide a superb background to the 18th-century ornaments, paintings and furniture which have been brought together in the palace to recreate the atmosphere of a Venetian stately home of the period.
From the vast street-side entrance, an imposing staircase leads to the state apartments. The grand reception room is remarkably spacious by comparison with noble homes at the time, spanning the height of the first and second floor, which necessitated the demolition of a floor and the closing of a row of windows.
The enormous space seems even larger because of the illusionist architectural effects painted on the walls by Pietro Visconti, who collaborated in this particular case with Giovanni Battista Crosato, the painter of the fresco on the ceiling. This depicts Apollo’s chariot with the four continents, Europe, Asia, America and Africa, recalling the Apollonian myths to celebrate the Rezzonico family, whose coat of arms stands out at the centre of the main wall.
Of the original furnishing in the great hall, there remain the enormous gilt metal and wood chandeliers with their floral motives, whereas the tall armchairs, vases, and statues of ebony and boxwood (sculpted by Andrea Brustolon, the most famous Veneto carver of the early 18th century) come from Palazzo Venier at San Vio.
Celebrations of the family glories is a recurrent theme in the palace’s pictorial decorations, some of which were work of Giambattista Tiepolo, who worked here in the Summer of 1758, together with his son Giandomenico and the illusionist Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna. Tiepolo frescoed the ceiling of the first hall leading off to the left of the ballroom with a Nuptial Allegory to commemorate the marriage of Ludovico Rezzonico, future Procurator of St. Mark, to Faustina Savorgnan.