Ca' d'Oro | |
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![]() Ca' d'Oro façade overlooking the Grand Canal | |
![]() Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
General information | |
Location | Venice, Veneto |
Address | Cannaregio 3932 (Calle Ca 'd'Oro) |
Country | Italy |
Coordinates | 45°26′26″N12°20′02″E / 45.44056°N 12.33389°E |
Construction started | 1428 |
Construction stopped | 1430 |
Owner | Galleria Giorgio Franchetti |
The Ca' d'Oro or Palazzo Santa Sofia is a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice, northern Italy. One of the older palaces in the city, its name means "golden house" due to the gilt and polychrome external decorations which once adorned its walls. Since 1927, it has been used as a museum, as the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti.
It has long been regarded as the best surviving palazzo in Venetian Gothic architecture, retaining all the most characteristic features, despite some losses. On the facade, the loggia-like window group of closely spaced small columns, with heavy tracery with quatrefoil openings above, uses the formula from the Doge's Palace that had become iconic. There are also the byzantine-inspired decoration along the roofline, and patterning in fancy coloured stone to the flat wall surfaces. The smaller windows show a variety of forms with an ogee arch, capped with a relief ornament, and the edges and zone boundaries are marked with ropework reliefs.
The third act of Amilcare Ponchielli's opera La gioconda is set in the palace.
The palace was built between 1428 and 1430 for the Contarini family, who provided Venice with eight Doges between 1043 and 1676. The architects of the Ca d'Oro were Giovanni Bon and his son Bartolomeo Bon.
Following the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, the palace changed ownership several times. In 1846, Alessandro Trubetzkoi, purchased the palace, which was in a ruinous state, as a gift for ballet dancer Marie Taglioni. The reckless renovation of the architect resulted in his imprisonment under charges of vandalism. In the end, many of the Gothic features, including the stairway of the inner courtyard and the balconies which overlooked the courtyard, were removed.
In 1894, the palace was acquired by its last owner, baron Giorgio Franchetti; throughout his lifetime, he amassed an important art collection and personally oversaw its extensive restoration, including the reconstruction of the stairway and the Cosmatesque courtyard with ancient marbles. In 1916, Franchetti bequeathed the Ca' d'Oro to the Italian State. It is now open to the public as a gallery: Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro.
During the 2019 Venice flood, waters reached the top of the wellhead in the inner courtyard. [1]
The principal façade of Ca' d'Oro facing onto the Grand Canal is built in the Bons' floral Venetian Gothic style. Other nearby buildings in this style are Palazzo Barbaro and the Palazzo Giustinian. This linear style favoured by the Venetian architects was not superseded by Venetian Renaissance architecture until the end of the 15th century, or later.
On the ground floor, a recessed colonnaded loggia gives access to the entrance hall ( portego de mezo) directly from the canal. Above this colonnade is the enclosed balcony of the principal salon on the piano nobile . The columns and arches of this balcony have capitals which in turn support a row of quatrefoil windows; above this balcony is another enclosed balcony or loggia of a similar yet lighter design.
The palace has (like other similar buildings in Venice) a small inner courtyard. The neighboring palace is Palazzo Giustinian Pesaro.
Francis H. Kimball, the famed American architect behind landmarks like the Empire State Building, used the Ca' d'Oro as inspiration for the Montauk Club, a social club in Brooklyn, New York.
The gallery houses the collection of works of art collected by Giorgio Franchetti in his life. Following the donation to the Italian State in 1916 and in preparation for the museum, the Franchetti collection was accompanied by some state collections from which most of the bronzes and sculptures on display come from, as well as numerous Venetian and Flemish paintings.
Among the most valuable works are the San Sebastiano by Andrea Mantegna and the Portrait of Marcello Durazzo by Antoon van Dyck.
In addition to the exhibition rooms, the museum houses various laboratories for the conservation and restoration of works of art.
The Grand Canal is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.
Piano nobile is the architectural term for the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house.
Ca' Foscari, the palace of the Foscari family, is a Gothic building on the waterfront of the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice, Italy.
Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading network. Very unusually for medieval architecture, the style is at its most characteristic in secular buildings, with the great majority of surviving examples of the style being secular.
The Palazzi Barbaro—also known as Palazzo Barbaro, Ca' Barbaro, and Palazzo Barbaro-Curtis—are a pair of adjoining palaces, in the San Marco district of Venice, northern Italy. They were formerly one of the homes of the patrician Barbaro family. The Palazzi are located on the Grand Canal of Venice, next to the Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti and not far from the Ponte dell'Accademia. The buildings are also known as the Palazzo Barbaro-Curtis. It is one of the least altered of the Gothic palaces of Venice.
The Palazzo Clary is a Late Renaissance Venetian palace facing the Giudecca Canal alongside the fondamenta Zattere by the ponte longo in Venice's Dorsoduro. It was originally built in the 17th century for a Venetian noble family. In the early 19th century, the palazzo is known as Palazzo Clary, named after it was bought by the prince Clary-Aldringen. The neighboring building is Palazzo Giustinian Recanati.
The Palazzo or Ca' Cappello Layard is a palace situated in the sestiere of San Polo of Venice, Italy, overlooking the Grand Canal at the confluence between this and the smaller Rio di San Polo and Rio delle Erbe. On the Grand canal, it is located between Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza and Palazzo Grimani Marcello. It is particularly noteworthy for having been the residence of Austen Henry Layard, discoverer of Nineveh.
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The Palazzo Papadopoli is a Baroque-style palace located on the Canal Grande of Venice, between Palazzo Giustinian Businello and Palazzo Donà a Sant'Aponal in the Sestiere of San Polo, Venice, Italy. The opposite building is the Palazzo Corner Contarini dei Cavalli.
The Palazzo Fontana Rezzonico is a palace located on the Canal Grande of Venice, between the Rio di San Felice and Palazzo Miani Coletti Giusti in the Sestiere of Cannaregio, Venice, Italy.
The Palazzo Giusti, also known as the Palazzo Miani Coletti Giusti, is a Neoclassic-style palace located on the Canal Grande of Venice, between Ca' d'Oro and Palazzo Fontana Rezzonico in the Sestiere of Cannaregio, Venice, Italy.
The Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro is an art museum located in the Ca' d'Oro on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.
Palazzo Giustinian Pesaro is a Gothic palace located in Venice, Italy, in the Cannaregio district and overlooking the Grand Canal. The palazzo is situated between Ca' d'Oro and Palazzo Morosini Sagredo.
Palazzo D'Anna Viaro Martinengo Volpi di Misurata, also known as Palazzo Talenti D'Anna Volpi, is a Renaissance palace in Venice, Italy, located in the San Marco district, overlooking the left side of the Grand Canal, between Palazzo Tron and Casa Marinoni and opposite of Palazzo Donà a Sant'Aponal.
Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is a civil building located in the city of Venice, Italy in the Cannaregio district. The palace neighbors Palazzo Pasqualigo Giovannelli and overlooks the Rio di Noale and the Rio di Santa Fosca.
The Ca' Giustinian, sometimes called the Palazzo Giustinian, is a palace on the Grand Canal in the San Marco sestiere of Venice, Italy. It is today the seat of the Venice Biennale. Built in 1471, it was among the last Gothic palazzi built in Venice. It was partially modernized in the 17th century.
Palazzo Mocenigo Gambara is a palace in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district and overlooking the Grand Canal, between the Contarini Palazzi degli Scrigni and Corfù and Palazzo Querini alla Carità, not far from the Gallerie dell'Accademia and in front of Palazzo Giustinian Lolin.
Palazzo Cavalli or Palazzo Corner Martinengo is a palace in Venice, located in the San Marco district and overlooking the Grand Canal. It locates not far from the Ponte di Rialto, between Palazzo Corner Valmarana and Ca' Farsetti, in front of Palazzo Barzizza.
Palazzo Contarini Pisani is a palace in Venice, located in the Cannaregio district, overlooking the left side of the Grand Canal, between Palazzo Boldù and Casa Levi Morenos, in front of Ca' Corner della Regina.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Preceded by Bridge of Sighs | Venice landmarks Ca' d'Oro | Succeeded by Ca' Foscari |