Palazzi Barbaro

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 first of the two palaces is in the Venetian Gothic style and was built in 1425 by Giovanni Bon, one of Venice's master stonemasons. It belonged to Piero Spiera in the early 15th century, passing though several hands before being acquired by Zaccaria Barbaro, Procurator of San Marco in 1465.

The second structure was executed in the Baroque style and was designed in 1694 by Antonio Gaspari, one of the finest architects of the 17th century This building was originally two stories and belonged to the Tagliapietra family. In the 16th century, they gave the Barbaro family permission to build on top.

Antonio Gaspari made enlargements to the building from 1694 to 1698. Gaspari's building housed the Barbaro family's ballroom which included a magnificent interior of Baroque stucco-work, paintings of ancient Roman subject matter, such as Sebastiano Ricci's Rape of the Sabine Women and works by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta.

In the 18th century an elegant library was created on the 3rd floor of the palace with a ceiling that incorporated a rich stucco design. In the center of the library's ceiling was placed one of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's masterpieces The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, a painting that now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Tiepolo’s frescoes have all been removed.

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Wikipedia