Ca' Rezzonico Site Features

Ca' Rezzonico was designed in the 18th century baroque-rococo architectural style. The palace is set across three stories, with an opulent marble façade facing the Grand Canal and ornate Baroque decorations. Massari remained true to the original plans of Longhena, only adding a few of his own design elements to reflect architectural developments since the palazzo’s conception.

There is an impressive costume collection detailing the importance of Venetian silk production during the period when the city manufactured some of the most exquisite silk fabrics ever made.

The second floor features a frescoed ceiling by Tiepolo entitled “The Allegory of Merit” within its Throne Room, which originally served as bridal chambers. Today it exhibits artifacts relating to the Venetian patrician family of Barbarigo, including an ornate gilt frame surrounding a portrait of Pietro Barbarigo and a gilt throne by Rococo sculptor Antonio Corradini.

There are works by Pietro Longhi, Francesco Guardi and Giandomenico Tiepolo on display throughout the palace, as well as a fine collection of Murano glassware illustrating the exceptional skills of 18th-century Venetian glassmakers.

Ca' Rezzonico occupies a canal-front site in Dorsoduro, on the stretch of the Grand Canal between the Accademia and San Barnaba, with its own vaporetto stop directly outside.

The building is unusually legible from the water because the palaces immediately beside it are lower, leaving Longhena's heavy Baroque front standing clear of its neighbours rather than absorbed into a continuous run of facades -- the reverse of the situation at more tightly packed stretches near the Rialto.

Behind it, Dorsoduro is residential in a way the San Marco side of the canal is not: the campi around Campo San Barnaba carry ordinary neighbourhood traffic, which is a large part of why the museum stays quiet even in high season.