An unusually beatiful example of typical 15th
century Gothic design, with its fanciful architectual
motives, wealth of marbles and the splendour
of its gold and colour, now all disappeared,
which drew insperation from eastern rather than
from northern art.
It is probable that, in the original idea, begining
with the traditional type of Venitian palace,
the whole building should have been made with
a central body flanked by two smaller side pieces,
but only the right side was built, through lack
of space.
It was constructed between 1421 and 1440, by
Marin Contarini, on the site of a previous house,
that once belonged to the Zeno family. This
explains why some of the Veneto-byzantine style
ornaments belong to the 13th century.
The work of this splendid architectual creation,
crowned with a typical happily planned crenellation,
was carried out by the Lombard and Venetian
stone-masons, supervised by Matteo Raverti and
the Bons.
Today, minus the additions and irreverent transformations
of the architect Meduna (middle of the 19th
century) and with the little "Saracen"
windows of the mezzanine floor, and the top
frieze, it has re-aquired all the harmony of
its original aspect.
It became the property of the State as the result
of a munificent gift on the part of Baron Giorgio
Franchetti.
Important group of sculptures, bronzes, paintings
and Flemish and Dutch art. Works by Tintoretto,
Titian, Van Dyck, Alessandro Vittoria.
A rich collection of works of art displayed
in a typical Venetian-Gothic palace. In the
sumptuous interior salons can be admired paintings
by the most important Italian schools as well
as antique furniture, tapestries and carpets.
Among the numerous masterpieces exhibited are
Titian’s Venus (room IV) and A. Mantegna’s
St Sebastian (room VI).
