Ca' d'Oro

The Ca ' d' Oro is a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice. Its name ( " Golden House " ) owes the building of elaborate polychrome marble cladding, the original large painting with ultramarine and gold-plated stone carvings on the facade to the channel.

The palace is a significant example of Venetian Gothic architecture of the early 15th century. The initial connection of column and arch has been fundamentally altered by the introduction of tracery to the so-called " flamboyant gothic ", in which the former simple bow was reinterpreted as a tracery and showed a sharp, edgy, playful profiling. Against this Gothic influence there was always opposition, which can also be read at this facade. The lower level shows a very different arc position, indicating the onset of the Renaissance in Venice.

The palace was built on behalf of Marino Contarini, Procurator of San Marco, 1421-1442. The reuse of large parts of the Romanesque previous building led to an asymmetric division of the facade and the rooms. Architect Bartolomeo Buon, the stone carvings were executed, among other things by Matteo Raverti. After the fall of the Republic, the palace changed several times its owners. He was neglected and threatened in its substance to decay. In the 19th century it belonged to the dancer Maria Taglioni, who tore down the courtyard, the staircase in the courtyard and the Gothic balconies.

Galleria Franchetti in the Ca 'd' Oro

1895 the Baron Giorgio Franchetti had bought the Ca ' d' Oro, the run-down house lavishly restored and housed an art collection in the renovated building. In 1915 he donated the house and collection to the Italian State.

The house is now a museum for predominantly Venetian art from the Gothic to Baroque. In addition to paintings and sculptures and crafts objects and carpets are exhibited. The interior of the rooms is no longer the original appearance due to the long neglect. Individual rooms are equipped with ceiling in the restoration of other palaces. The rooms themselves are equipped with old Venetian furniture and give an idea of the splendor of Venetian home decor.

In the Ca ' d' Oro will include paintings by Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Jacopo da Pontormo, van Dyck, vistas of Francesco Guardi, sculptures by Tullio Lombardo and the faded remains of the frescoes with which Giorgione and Titian, the facade of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi had painted issued.