Description of the attraction
Ca 'Rezzonico is a palace in Venice on the banks of the Grand Canal. Today it houses a museum dedicated to the history of the city in the 18th century and is part of the Foundation for the Civic Museums of Venice.
Ca 'Rezzonico stands on the right bank of the Grand Canal, where the canal joins the Rio di San Barnaba. In the past, there were two houses here that belonged to one of the aristocratic families of Venice - Bon. In 1649, the head of the family, Filippo Bon, decided to build a palace here. To do this, he hired Baldassar Longen, the largest adherent of the Venetian Baroque style, which gradually replaced the style of the Renaissance. However, neither the architect nor his client had a chance to see his creation - Longena died in 1682, and Bon went bankrupt.
The project involved the construction of a three-story marble façade facing the canal. On the first floor there was a portico hidden in a recess without a pediment, which was framed by two windows. Above it was the so-called "drunken nobile" with arched windows separated from each other by columns, and even higher was the third floor, almost identical to the second. The building was completed by a mezzanine with low oval windows. The current building of the Palazzo has partially retained its original appearance, although it was completed only in 1756 by the architect Giorgio Massari, hired specifically for this purpose by the new owners of the palace - the Rezzonico family. This family did not have noble blood, but managed to get rich during the war with the Ottoman Empire and in the middle of the 17th century bought itself a noble title. And already in 1758, one of the scions of the family, Carlo Rezzonico, became Pope Clement XIII.
In the same 1758, the completed Palazzo was decorated - the rooms overlooking the Rio di San Barnaba were painted with frescoes by Jacopo Guarana, Gaspare Diziani and Giambattista Tiepolo. These frescoes remain some of the best preserved in Venice today. The attraction of the palace is its magnificent ballroom - its walls are decorated with a Lombardo tromple by Pietro Visconti, and on the ceiling you can see the image of Apollo galloping in his chariot between Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Of the other rooms in Ca 'Rezzonico, it is worth highlighting the Chapel and the Frescoed Wedding Hall. In the center of the rectangular Palazzo is a small courtyard decorated with sculptures and a fountain. A pillared balcony "drunken nobile" opens out here.
In 1935, Ca 'Rezzonico was acquired by the Venice City Council and houses a collection of 18th century Venetian art. Here you can see numerous paintings by artists such as Pietro Longhi, Francesco Guardi and Giandomenico Tiepolo. In addition to the collection of antique furniture, the museum exhibits an amazing collection of Venetian glass. Today Ca 'Rezzonico is one of the most popular museums in Venice.
