Exotic tours / 21.02.2024

Venetian Palace Ca d'Oro or Golden House in Venice. Ca' d'Oro Palace What to see in Ca' d'Oro Palace

The magnificent lacy structure immediately catches the eye, outshining its neighbors. The name of the palazzo, Ca "d" Oro, translated means "Golden House". And at the time its construction was completed, in the 1430s, it was by no means an allegory. Initially, the facade of the palace was decorated with gold leaf and painted with rare and expensive paints - ultramarine (deep blue) and cinnabar (deep red). Apparently, so its owner - Marino Contarini- demonstrated his wealth.

In terms of elegance, luxury and the amount of money spent on construction, the Golden House surpassed all existing palazzos in Venice at that time and was known no less than the Doge's Palace far beyond its borders. This is not surprising - the Cantarini family, until the fall of the Venetian Republic, was an integral part of the ruling elite. It is not for nothing that eight of its representatives tried on the Corno Ducale - that was the name of the headdress of the Doge, the head of the republic. In addition, the same architects who worked on some elements of the Palazzo Ducalle took part in the construction of the palace - the family of Venetian masters Bon (Bon, or Bono): father and son, Giovanni and Bartolomeo (in the Doge's Palace they created the “Paper” gate, or Gate of papers, and the sculptural composition “Judgment of Solomon”). The luxurious painting of the façade of the Ca' d'Oro, which has not survived to this day, presumably belonged to the authorship of the French artist Jean Charlier, who appears in documents of that time as Zuanne de Franza, i.e. Dzuanne (or Zuanne) from France (in the local dialect). The general supervision of the construction of the Golden House was carried out, it is believed, by the Milanese architect Matteo Raverti, as well as Bona, who had a hand in the creation of the Doge's Palace.

CC BY 2.0, flickr.com)">

If we talk about the architecture of the building, then Ca' d'Oro is classified as a Gothic Venetian building. The facade overlooking the Grand Canal can be attributed to the special “floral” style of Bons. This style of elegant lines and proportions, so beloved by Venetian architects, was not completely supplanted by Baroque until the end of the 16th century.

Venetian Gothic adopted many features of the Byzantine tradition. In the example of the Ca' d'Oro, this is especially noticeable, which, in general, is not surprising, since the building was built, as is usual in Venice, on the site of an old palace - Palazzo Zeno - which was precisely a model Venetian-Byzantine style and went to Marino Contarini after his marriage as his wife’s dowry.

On the first tier there is a portico with steps leading into the waters of the canal, from which you can enter the main hall of the palace. The main element of the second tier is the loggia, located above the portico of the first floor and hiding the main hall of the palace. The columns and arches of this loggia have capitals decorated with great taste with traditional Venetian quatrefoils. On the third tier there is another open loggia, with less decor, but no less elegant.

A striking feature of the Ca' d'Oro is its asymmetry, which makes the palace even more unlike most Grand Canal palazzos. The openwork of the left wing of the building clearly contrasts with the solidity of its right part. However, the palace looks surprisingly balanced.

If we touch on the inside of the palazzo and the palace decoration, then, first of all, you should pay attention to the small courtyard with a gallery around the perimeter and a staircase leading to the second floor.

CC BY 2.0, flickr.com)">

It houses a carved marble CC BY-SA 2.5, commons.wikimedia.org)" class="popup-img apic">well, decorated with a number of allegorical images: Fortitude, Justice and Mercy were embodied in stone. In addition, being on the first floor of the Ca" d'Oro, it is impossible not to pay attention to the delightful mosaic floors. On the second and third floors of the palazzo there are rooms that once served as the owners' chambers - they were decorated in the best traditions of the Venetian Republic. Today here you can see ancient tapestries, paintings by famous artists, sculptures (there is a museum within the walls of the palazzo, which will be discussed below), and also admire the beautiful view of the Grand Canal from the loggias of Ca' d'Oro.

The appearance of the palace, which certainly changed over time, underwent special changes in the middle of the 19th century. In 1846, the Palazzo Ca' d'Oro was acquired by the Russian Prince Trubetskoy as a gift to the Bellerina Maria Taglioni. Apparently, at that time the building was in very poor condition and needed restoration. As a matter of fact, the architect Giovanni Battista Meduna was invited for this purpose. A large-scale reconstruction was begun, as a result of which many Gothic elements were destroyed, and the interior decoration was redrawn either according to the tastes of the new owner, or in accordance with the vision of the architect. Neither the graceful staircase, nor the Gothic balconies of the courtyard, nor the magnificent well created by Bartolomeo Bon received mercy. There is even a version that it was during the restoration work, led by Meduna, that the gold cladding of the façade of the Ca' d'Oro was removed. After which the enterprising architect sold it, for which he was soon caught and convicted. However, this is more like one of the thousands of Venetian legends than the truth (it is doubtful that the gilding could survive intact the period of the capture of Venice by Napoleonic troops in 1797).

In 1894, the house came into the hands of a more zealous owner. It was Giorgio Franchetti, who spent enormous amounts of money restoring the Gothic appearance of the Golden House. In addition, Giorgio Franchetti was a collector. He collected art objects. Truly an occupation worthy of a true aristocrat! In 1922, before his death, he bequeathed the palazzo and his entire extensive collection to the city, and in 1927 a museum was opened in Ca' d'Oro (Gallery Giorgio Franchetti), which is still open today (see www.cadoro.org).

The main exhibition of the museum consists of paintings by famous masters of the Venetian school, such as Sansovino and Tintoretto, Bordone and Guardi, Carpaccio and Titian. There are also paintings by Van Dyck, as well as the famous "commons.wikimedia.org" class="popup-img apic">Saint Sebastian by Mantegna (the last of three painted by the author). In addition, in the Giorgio Franchetti gallery you can admire icons , a collection of sculptures from the 14th–16th centuries, tapestries, frescoes, examples of applied art, as well as interiors and household items that introduce us to the brilliant era of the heyday of the Venetian Republic.

Venice boasts the "Golden House", which in Italian sounds like Ca'd'Oro, which is also called Palazzo Santa Sofia. In the original decoration, its facade was completely covered with gold leaf and painted with expensive paints - ultramarine (blue) and cinnabar (red ). In such an expensive way, the first owner of the building, Contarini, wanted to surprise the local aristocracy with his wealth.

Myths and facts

In 1421, local merchant Marino Contarini commissioned the architects Giovanni Bona and Bartolomeo Bona to build the Byzantine-style Palazzo Zena, which the aristocrat had received as his wife's dowry, on the site of the older Palazzo Zena.

Construction lasted until 1440, but the following year the owner of the building and his son died unexpectedly. The palace began to pass from one owner to another, and each of them tried to make their contribution to its layout and decoration, according to the taste and trends of the time.

One of the famous owners of Ca'd'Oro was the Russian prince Alexander Trubetskoy. He donated the building to the ballerina Maria Taglione. Trubetskoy commissioned the architect Giovanni Meduna to reconstruct the dilapidated palazzo, however, in the end he only worsened its interior and decoration.

In 1894, the building was purchased by the Venetian merchant Giorgio Franchetti. He restored the Gothic appearance of the building according to the drawings and placed a collection of artistic paintings here. The merchant bequeathed the collection, along with the Golden House, to the city in 1922.

Since 1927, a museum named after George Franchetti was opened in the palace, which still operates today.

What to see

Ca'd'Oro was built in the Venetian Gothic style and resembles. The facade design is unique, decorated with exquisite architectural elements. The lacy façade overlooks the Grand Canal.

The palace is asymmetrical: the left part is more openwork, the right part is monolithic. The building has two entrances - from water and land.

In plan, the structure resembles the letter C, has a courtyard and a marble well (XV century), surrounded by three symbolic carved marble figures: Fortitude, Justice and Mercy. The floor of the patio is mosaic.

The exhibition at the Franchetti Gallery includes paintings by famous artists (Van Eyck, Titian, Carpacio, Mantegna, etc.), antique furniture, ceramics, sculptures of the 14th-16th centuries, tapestries, frescoes and items of medieval everyday life.

Others: the main cathedral of Venice -, ancient Roman and

Ca' d'Oro is a Venetian palace located on Venice's most famous waterway, the Grand Canal.

This palace is a striking example of Venetian Gothic, and at first it was called the “Golden House”, since when finishing the palace they covered everything with gold leaf.

History of creation

In 1425-1440, on the site of an old house built in the Byzantine style, one of the richest palaces in Venice was erected.

Its noble owner, the patrician Contarini, sought to imitate Emperor Nero and wanted to create a Golden House similar to the Roman one. He succeeded, his house became famous not only in Venice, but throughout Italy, but he soon died.

Time flew, the owners changed. In 1846, the famous Prince Trubetskoy decided to rebuild the golden house for the ballerina Maria Taglione. Nothing good came out of this idea., they even said that one of the architects removed and sold the famous gold cladding.

According to stories, the cunning architect, of course, was caught and punished, but historians claim that this is just a story for tourists.

In 1894, the Ca d'Oro house was bought by Giorgio Franchetti, restored, and collected a large collection of art objects. He recreated the destroyed stairs and balconies.

The restored staircase is still used today

Later, an art gallery was opened; Saint Sebastian, the work of a local artist, A. Mantegna, is considered its pride.

Also in the gallery are famous paintings by Flemish and German painters of the 15th-16th centuries, as well as Titian and other great masters of his time.

Giorgio also restored an expensive, unique marble mosaic, on which he spent enormous amounts of money and effort.

Francatti Gallery

Palace architecture

The famous palazzo (Italian palace) Ca d'Oro is located on the central street of Venice - the Grand Canal. The Ca' d'Oro Palace is the best building in the Venetian Floral Gothic style, but do not think that such a palace is the only one in all of Venice. For example, the neighboring palaces Barbaro and Giustinian were built in the same style.

Externally, Palazzo Ca' d'Oro combines a medieval church with a mosque. The asymmetry of the building immediately catches the eye, which is why this palace is the most recognizable in the city. One part of the building is light, airy, openwork; the other is heavy and monolithic, like many buildings of Italian houses. The palazzo has two entrances: from land and from water.

At the bottom of the palace there is a loggia. There you can go to the lobby. Upstairs there is a balcony of a large hall. Arches and columns support openwork windows in the shape of a quatrefoil, and even higher is a second loggia, similar to the first in its unique design solution.

The Canal Grande, Venice's main waterway, is full of architectural masterpieces. It’s not for nothing that tourists are so drawn to sail along the canal at least once. It’s clear that to look at this parade of palaces and temples gathered on one “street” - how can such a chance be missed? An architectural treasury under the open sky - not every city in Italy can boast of such wealth.

And even among such a scattering of jewelry there is the most luxurious, most valuable pearl. With absolute certainty we can call such a pearlCa' d'Oro. Name Ca' d'Oroliterally translated asHouse of gold. That’s why it is often called the Golden Palace in guidebooks, which is also true. The palace has other names -Palazzo Santo Sofia, Galleria Franchetti. The last name is the absolute truth. It is this gallery that is located in the palace. This is a wonderful museum, an excellent collection of art. But I’ll tell you about it a little later, in a section.

Ca' d'Oro- one of the best examples of Venetiangothicarchitecture, it rises above the waters of the Canal Grande almost600 years. Having been in a variety of hands, it underwent a lot of alterations, until in the end the last owner decided to return the palace to its original appearance. He partially succeeded.

This building, once decorated with gold leaf (from which it received its main name), ultramarine and vermilion, competed with the nearby Palazzo Barbaro and Palazzo Giustinian. And it won. The glory of this palace resounded far beyond the borders of the Most Serene Republic.

Ca' d'Oro facade- the openwork interlacing of columns and lancet windows, arches and balcony railings, the quatrefoil windows in the design of the balcony add airiness, the peaks on the roof direct the entire palace upward. It seems lacy and weightless. He beckons and attracts the eye. And even though there is nothing left of the gold leaf today (it was removed during one of the renovations of the palace),Ca' d'Oro Palacestill as beautiful as it was centuries ago.

How to find Ca' d'Oro

Ca' d'Oro on the map

Ca' d'Oro facade

The easiest way to get there is by land.Ca' d'Orofrom Strada Nuova. If you find yourself on this long shopping street, be especially attentive to the side of it that is closer to the Canal Grande. Somewhere in the middle of Strada Nuova will appearsign “Al Ca’ d’Oro”- “To Ca’ d’Oro.” You will need to turn into the alley where the sign arrow points and go to the Canal. Just before reaching the pier, on the right you will see the entrance toCa' d'Oro- Franchetti Gallery.

You can take a vaporettoto the stop “Ca’ d’Oro” (route No. 1).

Franchetti Gallery opening hours:

Monday - from 8:15 to 14:00 (the exhibition opens at 9:00),
from Tuesday to Saturday - from 8:15 to 19:15 (the exhibition opens at 9.00),
on Sundays and holidays - from 9:00 to 19:00.

Ticket sales stop half an hour before the museum closes.

The exhibition is a separate exhibition from the main museum collection.

Gallery ticket including exhibition -13 euros.

Franchetti Gallery website -Ca' d'Oro: cadoro.org.

What to see in Ca' d'Oro

Galleria Franchetti in Ca' d'Oro- it's not just paintings. First of all, the decoration of the palace itself is something special. Try to visit the courtyard, the atmosphere here is very Venetian. Staircase, marble well, columns. The first floor has a beautiful mosaic floor. On the ground floor there are marble and stone carved figures and sculptures from different eras. The second and third floors contain a collection of paintings, includingworks by Titian, Guardi, Sansovino, Tintoretto, Carpaccio, Bordone, Van Eyck and Van Dyck.

The pearl of the collection is considered to be “Saint Sebastian” by Andrea Mantegna.

The hall of tapestries, the hall of Venetian ceramics, frescoes, icons, fragments of ancient Venetian columns and marble sculptures of the XIV-XVI centuries - you will find all this in the hallsCa' d'Oro- Franchetti Galleries.

Necessarilyone more thing needs to be done -go out onto the palace balconyand admire the views of the Canal Grande. For example, on the left on the opposite bank you will see a coveredRialto market building. The bend of the Canal Grande, leading your gaze beyond the Rialto, is an unforgettable sight.

History of Ca' d'Oro

In 1425Venetian patricianMarino Contarinistarted construction on the site of the old palace, which he received with the dowry of his wife from the Tseno family. From the previous building in the Byzantine style, the architects Giovanni Bono and his son Bartolomeo left only part of the facade. The customer spared no expense; he openly sought to build something that would eclipse everything and everyone with its grandeur, wealth and luxury. That’s why I chose the best of the best as architects. And the general management of the construction was carried out by a MilaneseMatteo Raverti, who was known as one of the participants in the construction of the Milanese Duomo and the Venetian .

Contarini, as they said, dreamed of surpassing Nero himself with his Golden Palace. This is no coincidence. The Contarini family is one of the first families in the history of the Venetian Republic. Eight representatives of this family sat on the throne of the Doge of Venice. The building was built to1440 year. After the fall of the Venetian Republic, when the Contarini family slowly died out, the palace began to change owners with enviable frequency, and everyone tried to add something of their own to its appearance.

In 1846 bought the palace Russian Prince Trubetskoyto give it to the ballerinaMaria Taglione. She started a large-scale reconstruction of the palace, which by that time was already quite dilapidated and needed reconstruction. Butarchitect Medunain accordance with the owner's requests, he redrew almost all the interior spaces, did a lot of serious work on the courtyard, and removed all the gilding from the facade. At least that's what the Venetian legend says.

In 1894the palace finally found an owner who was concerned about returningCa' d'Orooriginal appearance.Baron Giovanni Franchettispent huge sums to restore the Bono family's Gothic masterpiece according to their own drawings and plans. Among other things, Franchetti was an avid collector. ANDin 1922before his death he bequeathed the palaceCa' d'Oroand his entire collection, housed in the palace and city.In 1927 V Ca' d'Oro opened Gallery Giorgio Franchetti, And you Ca' d'Orostill pleases the eyes of Venetians and tourists sailing past it along the Canal Grande.

Probably, I’m still too spoiled by the magnificent palaces of St. Petersburg, so the luxury of the Baroque Palazzo Ca Rezzonico, its state rooms, gilded furniture and ceilings with soaring allegories did not touch me at all. You won't see them in the photo. But still, I want to show something, and this means that we will take a very original route through the Museum of Venice in the 18th century... Forward :).

Here, for example, is a young man (an allegory of winter?), perfectly illustrating the Russian proverb “without pants, but in a hat.”
Sacredly following the orders of a strict mother about the need to put on a hat...

Isn't this George? But with a bow on a dragon like that... miracles.

Unexpectedly, I became very interested in the cartoons of Antonio Maria Zanetti (1680 - 1757). It’s interesting to look at accurately captured characters with sharp (grotesque, of course) poses and facial expressions. The complete opposite of fashionable and pompous ceremonial portraits. These pictures seemed lively and cheerful to me; a little ironic, but without the poison of satire or sarcasm.
You can view the full gallery of the author's cartoons.

I liked the etchings by Gaetano Zompini, depicting the daily life of 18th-century Venetians. (1746-540). I'm translating this article using Google Translate. The artist depicted “the swarming world of workers, merchants, small shopkeepers, day laborers, and salesmen who filled the streets of the city. A colorful, sonorous, fragrant world that left no other traces and represented a true palette of nuances and tones, and was real, constant.. ..Above all, Zompini reminds us that Venice was not only a spectacular city of theatrical and luxurious houses on the Grand Canal, it was not only home to patrician families, wrapped in brocade, satin and silk taffeta and depicted in luxurious interiors.Venice was before just a city of people who worked, who were engaged in wholesale and retail trade, who went about their own business, "

Coal miners.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t clearly translate the caption to this picture in Italian:
"Son quel, che inchiostro fin da scriver vendo,
E insieme ghò la roba per i sorzi,
Cioè tossego per lori assae tremendo."
Maybe this is a cuttlefish (octopus) seller? He reminds me of a ragpicker who scares a child (“If you behave badly, I’ll give you to that scary guy”).

Two tabletops were made for Archbishop Francesco Pisani in the 16th century. . On them are flowers, birds, scenes from Krylov Aesop's fables and various ancient subjects (for example, Orpheus). But I will only show birds - this is a spring collage :)

Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, master of urban landscapes. "Grand Canal towards Rialto", circa 1723. It's always nice to "recognize" places in paintings that are more than two hundred years old.

However, it’s nice to recognize not only places, but also characters and situations. Here, for example, is Pietro Longhi’s painting, The Charlatan, 1757. What is interesting, does this lively young man offer? Elixir of eternal youth? Or maybe this is a mysterious theriac consisting of 100 ingredients? It’s unlikely, most likely it’s an ordinary love potion and one of the couple in the foreground seems to be about to use it. :).
I would like to quote from P. Muratov’s familiar book “Images of Italy”:
“But no other artist can compare with Longhi in the charm of depicting Venetian life...Longhi was not only a writer of everyday life of his time, he was a real poet. He faithfully reproduced what he saw, but he saw exactly what was expressed the most charming features of the era... Longhi correctly understood the main artistic "nerve" of the then Venetian life - the beauty of the mask. The mask is the main motif of almost all of his paintings. The very idea of Longhi is inseparable from the idea of "bautta", this strangely established form of the Venetian carnival. "Bautta" generally means dominoes, but the Venetian "bautta" is subject to an amazingly strict design and a strict combination of two colors - black and white... The Venetian "bautta" consisted of a white satin mask with a sharp triangular profile and deep depressions for the eyes and a wide black cloak with a black lace cape. A piece of black silk was attached to the mask, completely covering the lower part of the face, neck and back of the head. A triangular black hat trimmed with silver braid was put on the head. When "bautta" they wore white silk stockings and black shoes with buckles.
...All this forms groups of unheard-of beauty, bizarreness and gloomy pomp. Our mind refuses to believe that before us are only genre scenes, carefully copied from life."

I will continue to quote Muratov: “During his walks around the city, Longhi sees the kind Venetian people. He paints laundresses, sellers of ciambelli pretzels, a furlana performed to the accompaniment of a tambourine in some remote corner. Neither in his paintings nor in the books of that time the Venetian people do not seem unhappy, destitute. They somehow also participate in the celebration of life. This is the deep difference between Venice of the 18th century and Paris. There are no such acute social contradictions, and the poison of hatred is not spilled in the air that the mixed crowd breathes here. This is a purely Italian trait. Italy has always been and will still remain people's. When talking about the idle and happy life in Venice of that time, we should not keep silent about something, turn a blind eye to someone's social suffering. If there was a holiday here, then This holiday was truly for everyone. Its hall was the street itself, and the ballroom costume was common to everyone. More importantly, everyone could enjoy it, because they knew how to enjoy it. In the souls of the simplest people here lived such a sense of beauty, such an innate aristocracy tastes and pleasures that France did not know, despite the long and difficult court training. After all, only this can explain such a creation of the Italian folk genius as the comedy of masks."
"Polenta" (cornmeal porridge), 1740.

The Veiled Lady turned out to be an allegory of Vera. Antonio Corradini (1668-1752). We are going to see his works in Naples in the San Severo Chapel.

I was surprised by the painting by a Venetian artist from the late 18th century. "Frozen Lagoon" Did this really happen?

And that's how they rode? Amazing.

And did they play kubar on the ice? Well, just like Pieter Bruegel. :)

Cima da Conegliano (1459-1517). Madonna and Child and saints.

The view from the window of the palazzo is divine.

Strange painting by Antonio Diziani (1737-1797)."Flight of Geese" (?). What is this? Illustration of some cautionary tale? Or the image of the "village fool"? I really hope that no one did anything like this and was not harmed.

And this is the Palazzo Ca d'Oro, where I ran shortly before it closed, so I was only allowed into the lower half of the palace, but I walked there in splendid isolation. The floor was created in the late 19th - early 20th centuries according to drawings from the medieval (mostly Byzantine) mosaics. Authentic materials and technologies were used. Thanks for this should be said to Baron Giorgio Franchetti. You walk as if on a precious carpet, you are afraid to tread. Magnificent.

Pozzo well by the architect Giovanni a Bartolomeo Bono, 1427 with allegories of Justice, Fortress and Mercy.

This is such a delightful outlet for the channel.

On the left is a bas-relief from the 12th century, on the right - from the 11th century. This is all that is told about these exhibits on the museum stand. The rest, as usual, you will have to dig yourself :)))

English (?) alabaster polyptych with scenes from the life of St. Catherine, XV century. (can be enlarged on flickr)

St. Sebastian. Andrea Mantegna, Written in the period 1490-1506. Unlike Mantegna's two other St. Sebastians (in the Louvre and in Vienna), this one is considered particularly pessimistic. The inscription in Latin reads: Nihil nisi divinum stabile est. Caetera fumus. Rough translation (from Google): Nothing can be stable unless it is from God. The rest is smoke. (I welcome other options). An extinguished candle in the lower right corner, arrows forming the letter M - either death (Morte) or the signature - Mantegna. M - A bit gloomy.

Carlo Crivelli (1430-1495). Madonna and Child and St. Anufriy. You can read about Crivelli’s cucumbers (if anyone has forgotten) at the link.

Michele da Verona. Farewell of Christ to the Mother of God and John the Baptist (?!) in Italian -Battista

Vittore Carpaccio. The cycle “History of Our Lady” was made by the artist in the period 1504-1508 for Scuola, people from Albania (there was one like this in Venice, read it). One painting from this cycle is in Bergamo, two are in the Brera Pinacoteca in Milan (you and I have seen them all, we’re just too lazy to look for a link). The Garden of Eden with beautiful birds on the “half” of the Archangel and peace, dignity, beauty, silence and books on the “half” of the Mother of God. It seems that time has stopped: the birds froze in the air and the goldfinch with a peacock at the threshold, the turtle doves froze, the trees outside the garden fence froze, the archangel held a lily in his hands and Mary had a flower (I can’t identify it, but it’s certainly not accidental)... And only The Pigeon flies rapidly.

Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. Carpaccio added oriental flavor to the picture: palm trees, “minarets” in the background, carpets on balconies, oriental clothes. All this coexists perfectly with the Veneto landscapes and very strange architecture - I am especially fascinated by the airy gazebo on top of the tower.