Description of the attraction
Ca 'Pesaro is a marble baroque palace facing the Grand Canal in Venice. The construction of this palace began in the middle of the 17th century under the leadership of the architect Baldassar Longhena, and was completed only in 1710 under another architect, Gian Antonio Gaspari. Today, Ca 'Pesaro is home to one of the 11 city museums in Venice.
The first owners of the palace were the noble Venetian Pesaro family. Work on its construction began in 1659 - at first the canal embankment was equipped, and by 1679 the decoration of the backyard was completed. Three years later, the first two floors of the palace were completed. After Longena's death, the construction was continued by Gaspari, who relied on the original plan of his predecessor.
The decorations on the first floor, with its alternating arches and columns, are reminiscent of the works of Sansovino, while the second floor is decorated with ornaments on the sails of the vault and architraves. Inside, fragments of frescoes and oil paintings on the ceiling can still be seen. In general, the personal collection of works of art of the Pesaro family included works by such masters as Alvise Vivarini, Vittore Carpaccio, Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto and other famous Venetian painters of the 17-18th centuries. Unfortunately, by 1830 this huge and richest heritage was sold out. The palace itself first passed into the hands of the Gradenigo family, then became the property of the Armenian religious society of the Mkhitarists, who placed their college in it, and later it was bought by Duchess Felicita Bevilacqua La Maza, who in 1898 bequeathed the building to Venice. It was by her will that Ca 'Pesaro was turned into a Museum of Modern Art.
Today, the museum houses a collection of paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries, and a special room is dedicated to graphic art. The Museum of Oriental Art, located on the top floor of Ca 'Pesaro, deserves a special mention - it displays about 30 thousand items, mainly from Japan, as well as from China and Indonesia - weapons, inro (elegant boxes for perfume or medicine), netsuke figurines, paintings, etc.
