Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Built in the 17th-18th century, it is one of the last great palazzi of Venice. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system For other meanings (eg the word's use in place names see Palazzo (disambiguation. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Little known outside of Italy, it is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted between (1746-47) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, with decorative works in trompe l'oeil by Gerolamo Mengozzi-Colonna. See also Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (or Giandomenico Tiepolo) or Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo, both sons of Giovanni Battista Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English ( French: "trick the eye" tʁɔ̃p lœj is an Art technique involving extremely
In a city often likened to a cardboard filmset, the Palazzo is unusual by having not only a canal front, but also a visible and formal facade at its rear, coupled with a decorated side too. In Venice, such design is very rare. The palazzo was designed by the architect Andrea Cominelli (by Alessandro Tremignon according to others), the principal facade is on the Cannaregio Canal; a lesser three bayed facade faces the Grand Canal. A facade or façade (fəˈsɑːd is generally one side of the exterior of a Building, especially the front but also sometimes the sides and rear Cannaregio is one of the six historic sestieri (districts of Venice, and the northernmost of the city The Grand Canal ( Italian: Canal Grande, Venetian: Canałasso) is the most important Canal in Venice Italy. A later facade probably designed by Giorgio Massari is approached from the Campo San Geremia. Giorgio Massari (1687-1766 is a prominent late- Baroque Venetian architect San Geremia is a church in Venice, northern Italy, located in the Sestiere of Cannaregio.
Contents |
The Labia
The Labia family, who commissioned the palazzo, were originally Spanish and bought their way into nobility in 1646, hence considered arriviste by the old Venetian aristocracy. The Labia family was a noble family of Venice. Originally Merchants of Spanish origin they bought their Titles from the Venetian Republic in Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations The wars with the Ottamans had depleted the coffers of the Republic of Venice which then sold inscriptions into nobility, thus giving political clout. The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica It has been said that they compensated their lack of ancestors by a great display of wealth. An ancestor is a Parent or ( recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i [1] Today the Palazzo Labia is the sole remaining example of this ostentation.
It is the members of the Labia family of the mid 18th century to whom the palazzo owes its notability today, it was inhabited by two brothers with their wives, children and mother. The brothers Angelo Maria Labia and his brother Paolo Antonio Labia employed Tiepolo at the height of his powers to decorate the ballroom. Employing Tiepolo seems to have been the most remarkable thing the brothers ever achieved. Angelo Maria became an Abbé, merely in order to escape the political obligations of an aristocrat of the Republic. Curiously his holy employment did not prevent him marrying. His wife however was a commoner, which indicates an almost morganatic status to the marriage. Angelo's chief interests were constructing a marionette theatre, which concealed real singers behind its scenes. A marionette is a Puppet controlled from above using strings a marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. The marionettes often performed satirical plays which Angelo wrote himself. In later life he failed to endear himself to Venetian society by becoming an informer to the dreaded inquisition. The term Inquisition can refer to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Roman Catholic Church and His younger brother Paolo, married conventionally into the old Venetian aristocracy, a class prepared to except the Labia's money and hospitality if not equality. Paolo too never assumed any public duties. It appears that it was their mother, Maria Labia, who was the intellectual driving force of the family, in her youth a great beauty, she was painted by Rosalba Carriera. As Snuff -taking became popular Carriera began painting Miniatures for the lids of snuff-boxes and was the first painter to use ivory for this purpose The French traveller and social commentator Charles de Brosses reported that in old age she had a lively wit, flirtatious nature and possessed the finest collection of jewels in Europe. Charles de Brosses, comte de Tournay baron de Montfalcon seigneur de Vezins et de Prevessin ( February 7 1709 - May 7 1777) was a French writer This collection was also portrayed in some of Tiepolo's work in the palazzo.
Design
While the palazzo was begun at the very end of the 17th century it can be considered a product of the 18th century, such architects as Baldassarre Longhena had previously dominated the palazzo architecture of the city in a style exemplified by dramatic facades, rich in moulding with detached columns - a style little changed since the late renaissance. A campanile &ndash pronounced /kampaˈnile/ &ndash is especially in Italy, a free-standing Bell tower, often adjacent to a church John Singer Sargent (January 12 1856 &ndash April 14 1925 was the most successful portrait painter of his era During his career he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Baldassarre Longhena (1598 &ndash February 18 1682) was a 17th century Architect, who worked mainly in Venice, where he was one of the greatest The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere
Two little known architects Tremignon and Cominelli were commissioned to design the palazzo, the selection of two comparatively unknown architects is strange considering the Labia's wish to make an impression on Venetian society, however the placement of the site more than compensated any risk involved by non notable architects. The site chosen for the palazzo was the junction of the Cannaregio Canal and the Grand Canal in the parish of San Geremia, in fact the church of San Geremia was the palazzo's immediate neighbour, its campanile seemingly incorporated into the palazzo. Cannaregio is one of the six historic sestieri (districts of Venice, and the northernmost of the city San Geremia is a church in Venice, northern Italy, located in the Sestiere of Cannaregio. A campanile &ndash pronounced /kampaˈnile/ &ndash is especially in Italy, a free-standing Bell tower, often adjacent to a church The Cannaregio Canal is one of the most important tributaries of the Grand Canal.
While like many of the other larger palazzi in Venice the Palazzo Labia is rectangular in design built around an inner courtyard, the two architects Tremignon and Cominelli broke the architectural traditions of such architects as Longhena, by designing the facades of the Palazzo Labia to be more simple and less cluttered, than those of the earlier Venetian classical palazzi, while still maintaining a baroque richness achieved through the effect of light and shadow, a second break with Venetian architectural tradition was that the new palazzo had three facades, it was common practice in Venice for only the waterfront facade to have a richness of detail, while the rear elevations were often an evolved mismatch of asymmetrical windows and styles. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc The new palazzo's site being at the junction of two canals, and also bordering the Campo San Geremia provided the opportunity for three facades. Hence this attention to detail of the less obvious parts of the palazzo's exterior, away from its principal water front facade, was able to provide further evidence of the Labia's vast wealth.
The facade facing the Campo San Geremia is of equal splendour to that on the Cannaregio. The Grand Canal facade is the smaller of the three, set back from the fondamenta itself and of only three bays. The palazzo is of five floors. The ground and first floors are both low, the first being |rusticated, the next two floors are both piano nobili of equal worth, with tall curve topped windows separated by pilasters, the tall windows are fenced by balustraded balconettes. Rustication is an architectural term that contrasts with Ashlar, smoothly finished squared block masonry surfaces The piano nobile is the principal Floor of a large House, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture. A pilaster is a slightly-projecting flattened Column built into or applied to the face of a wall A baluster (according to OED derived through the French balustre, from Italian balaustro, from balaustra, "pomegranate flower" The fifth floor is a low mezzanine beneath the projecting hipped roof, here the small oval windows are divided by the heraldic eagles of the Labia family. In Architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate Floor between main floors of a Building, and therefore typically not counted Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms. The facade on the Campo San Geremia designed by Tremignon which hints at the more floral Venetian Gothic style contrasts to the more classical canal facades. However the Venetian Gothic is more of a subtle suggestion than defining style, the typical central recessed loggias of the piano nobili, typical features of the Venetian Gothic, are however glazed, and the roof line, unlike on the water fronts, is concealed by classical balustrading, but the repetition and placing of the fenestration continues the theme of the canal facades.
Interior
The double height palazzo ballroom (or Salone delle Feste) is entirely frescoed depicting scenes from the lives of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16 1968 is an American singer/songwriter/actor of Puerto Rican descent popular in Latin America for his Salsa music Cleopatra VII Philopator (in Greek, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; January 69 BC &ndash 30 BC was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt These frescoes were a collaboration between Tiepolo and Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna. The frescos are principally of an architectural nature, featuring doorways, windows and balconies in trompe l'oeil, through the illusionary doorways and windows can be viewed the meeting of Anthony and the Egyptian Queen and Cleopatra's banquet, while from the painted balconies and upper windows members of Cleopatra's court seem to look down. It is though the models for these figures were members of the Labia's household. In a banquet scene Cleopatra is depicted dissolving a priceless pearl in a goblet of wine, this represents the Labia's position in Venetian society, Maria Labia identified herself with Cleopatra - with her great wealth and jewel collection, she too was well able to afford to dispose of pearls in such a fashion if she chose. A legend has persisted in Venice that Maria Labia herself was the model for Cleopatra, but no documentary evidence exists to support the claim.
While Tiepolo's frescoes in the Ballroom have been described as amongst his finest in Italy, they also display Tiepolo's shortcomings as an artist. He was totally disinterested in psychology a result of this, a debate continues today concerning the depiction (illustrated right) Marc Anthony and Cleopatra, is this the meeting or the parting of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Some experts claim they can detect a certain stiffness in Cleopatra's pose which indicate some form of farewell is intended, but opinion is strongly divided.
The remaining state rooms, built around the internal courtyard, pale in comparison to the ballroom, but this is purely because if inevitable comparison each is a masterpiece in its own right, the Green Damask Salone in addition to its sculpted fireplace of inlaid marble , contains huge frescoes, and a ceiling by Pompeo Batoni. Pompeo Girolamo Batoni ( 25 January, 1708 - 4 February, 1787) was an Italian painter whose style incorporated elements of the French
20th century
The Labia's wealth and power lasted until the fall of the Serene Republic in 1797. During the 19th century the Palazzo fell into decay, this also coincided with a period where Tiepolo's work was unpopular and unappreciated. In 1945 a munitions boat exploded close to the palazzo shattering its already precarious foundations, and causing fragments of the ballroom frescoes to fall to the ground.
In the latter half of the 20th century the palazzo acquired a new owner Don Carlos de Beistegui, heir to a Mexican silver fortune, who began an intensive restoration. Beistegui was a skilled interior decorator, and for the derelict palazzo, he purchased furnishings acquired from the palazzo's less fortunate neighbours including frescoes by Raphael, Annibale Carracci, and Guido Reni, these works of art coupled with newly acquired tapestries and antiques restored to the palazzo some of its former splendour. Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and Annibale Carracci ( November 3, 1560 - July 15, 1609) was an Italian Baroque painter. Guido Reni ( 4 November 1575 &ndash 18 August 1642) was a prominent Italian painter of high- Baroque style So avid a collector was Don Carlos that his taste became known as le goût Beistegui (the Beistegui style). "
In September 1951 Don Carlos threw a party at the Palazzo Labia, a costume ball - it was one of the largest and most lavish social events of the 20th century. It launched the career of the Venetian fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who designed about 30 of the costumes worn by members of the "dolce vita" who attended. Pierre Cardin is an Italian -born French Fashion designer, who was born on July 7, 1922, near Treviso. Cecil Beaton's photographs of the ball display an almost surreal society, reminiscent of the Venetian life immediately before the fall of the republic at the end of the 18th century. Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton ( 14 January 1904 &ndash 18 January 1980) was an English fashion and portrait Photographer The party was to be one of the last truly spectacular events in the famous ballroom
Don Carlos died in 1970 leaving the palazzo in good repair, but many of newly acquired works of art to the Louvre in Paris, other bequeathed to his heir along with his French home Château de Groussay which was similarly furnished. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city When this collection, together with some of the Palazzo Labia's former contents was auctioned by Sotheby's in 1999 it proved to be France's largest and most highly priced auctionSale of Chateau de Groussay. Sotheby's ( is the world's second oldest Auction house in continuous operation (the oldest being Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674 "Auctioneer" redirects here For the DC Comics supervillain see Auctioneer (comics.
Today the palazzo is no longer a private residence, but regional headquarters of RAI, Italian State television. Rai - Radiotelevisione Italiana, known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian public service broadcaster, and is considered Occasionally the ballroom is used for high ranking international conferences and summits; this room and some of the state rooms are open to public viewing by appointment.
In april, 2008 RAI has put on sale the palazzo binding it to a cultural use, as requested by Venice Municipality.
External links
Notes
- ^ Great Houses of Europe edited by Sacheverell Sitwell.
References
- Sitwell; Sacheverell (1961). Great Houses of Europe. London: George Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-600-33843-6.
- Haskell, Francis (1963). {{{title}}}. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0-300-02540-8.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic