The tour a Venetian palace takes to one of the most impressive private house which belonged to the Rezzonico family. They were bankers, originally from Lombardy, who bought their way into the Venetian aristocracy in 1648. They paid  the very considerable sum of 100,000 ducats (about 2% of the entire annual revenue of the Republic!). The Rezzonicos soon became one of the most influential families in 18th C. Venice. Among their members, they had many officers in the highest Venetian political ranks, and even a Pope: Clemens XIII.

The Rezzonico’s Venetian palace contains the richest collection of original 18th C Venetian Art. Among the different frescoes,  two voluptuous composition by Giambattista Tiepolo intended to glorify the Rezzonicos, and to proclaim their merit.  Yet the collection of this museum contains much more. A large number of  furniture, ceramics and tapestries,  woodcarved impressive vaseholder coming  from  different Venetian palaces make this collection unique.

The second and the third floors of the palace are exibiting a rich collection of canvasses and frescoes from the 18th C.

Especially relevant are the  two Venetian views by Canaletto. Certainly these are the best paintings of the most famous view painter in the world preserved in Venice.

After the fall of the Venetian Republic,  the palace was the house of  Robert Barrett Browning, the son of the poet Robert Browning. While visiting his son, in 1889, the poet died  in this palace which he considered as “a corner of my old age.

The palace was celebrated also by Henry James: “Thrusting itself upon the water with a peculiar florid assurance, a certain upward toss of its cornice which gives it the air of a rearing sea-horse”

DURATION: 2 hours

THE PRICE OF A VENETIAN PALACE GUIDED TOUR INCLUDES:

• the service of a certified tour guide
• admission fee to Ca’ Rezzonico