Do you like Vivaldi's symphonies, Goldoni's spirited comedies, Giambattista Tiepolo's paintings full of imagination, or Canaletto's landscapes, which are so clear they look like photographs? The Rezzonico family palace and museum you are about to visit will take you back in time to the 18th century. Even if it was the century that marked the end of the Republic of Venice, the 18th century was also extraordinary for its art, culture, theater, luxury, and worldliness!
You've surely already admired the palace while passing it on the Grand Canal: can you imagine a better place for hosting 18th-century paintings, furniture, and objects? The collections come from various dismantled residences, but everything is placed as if it's always been part of the palace's furnishings. Consider also that the collections are continuously added to and modified, especially on the second and third floors.
This palace is one of the most impressive private buildings in Venice. It has a complex history: its construction was started for the Bon family using a project designed by Longhena, who was the greatest Venetian Baroque architect, and the same one who designed the Chiesa della Salute. Unfortunately, the Bons had some financial difficulties and the work proceeded quite slowly, so much so that when the architect died, the palace was still largely unfinished. Then it was bought by the Rezzonico family and work on the palace was resumed and the building was finally completed in the mid-1700s. The palace's highlight is its decorations, which are the work of some of the greatest painters of the time, including the incomparable Giambattista Tiepolo.
As soon as you enter the building you'll find yourself immediately transported into another world: the beautiful entrance hall with its large and shady spaces and porticoes that connect the courtyard to the façade facing the Grand Canal will make you forget about the present, and immediately throw you into the charming atmosphere of the eighteenth century.
FUN FACT: this Palace brought the family good fortune: two years after it was completed, Carlo Rezzonico, the bishop of Padua, was elected as Pope Clement XIII. It was the culmination of the Rezzonico's luck and the opportunity to celebrate fantastic parties in the ballroom you'll soon see!
