Palazzo Balbi, Venice

Palazzo Balbi is a palace on the Canal Grande, Venice, northern Italy. It is included in the sestiere (quarter) of Dorsoduro, to the right of Ca' Foscari. Currently it is the seat of the President of the Veneto region and of the regional council.[1][2][3]

Palazzo Balbi seen from Ca' Rezzonico.

It was built from 1582, under design by Alessandro Vittoria as the residence of the Venetian patrician family of the Balbi. In the 19th century it was acquired by Michelangelo Guggenheim and later by the Adriatic Electric Society. It became a property of the Veneto region in 1971.

Description

The palace has two floors, over a double-height rusticated basement with a mezzanine and entresol, in a symmetrical façade on the Grand Canal.

The ground floor has a large portal in the center featuring a mascaron and tympanum; there are two minor entrances at the sides. The two ashlar upper floors are divided into three sectors by Ionic and Corinthian pilasters and separated horizontally by a wide entablature. In the center are triple mullioned windows featuring paired Doric columns and parapets. Between the first-floor windows are the coat-of-arms of the Balbi family.

In a frieze under the dentilled cornice are small oval windows in elaborate stone frames. On the top are two obelisk-shaped pinnacles, similar to those in the Palazzo Belloni Battagia.

The interior contains 18th-century frescoes by Jacopo Guarana.

References
  • Brusegan, Marcello (2005). La grande guida dei monumenti di Venezia. Rome: Newton & Compton. ISBN 88-541-0475-2.
  1. Ormond, Richard; Kilmurray, Elaine (2009). John Singer Sargent: Venetian figures and landscapes, 1898-1913. Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. p. 185. ISBN 9780300141405. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. Stern, Richard (2004). Stitch. Northwestern University Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780810151482. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. Roy, Monique (2007). Once Upon a Time in Venice. iUniverse. p. 27. ISBN 9780595860074. Retrieved 26 July 2019.

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