Palazzo Malipiero

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Palazzo Malipiero

Palazzo Malipiero , also Palazzo Cappello Malipiero Barnabò or Palazzo Malipiero Cappello , formerly also called Ca 'Granda de San Samuel , is a palace in Venice in the Italian region of Veneto . It is located in the Sestiere of San Marco , overlooking the Grand Canal next to the Church of San Samuele and the Ca 'del Duca .

Over the centuries the palace has passed through many hands and not all owners are known. We know that the Soranzos probably had it built, and that at some point it belonged to the Cappellos , including the Malipieros , who finally gave it its present-day appearance, and also the Barnabòs .

The building, which originated in Byzantine times , has a highly articulated structure, which is due to the fact that each owner has adapted the palace to their own needs and tastes, resulting in a wide variety of architectural styles.

history

The coat of arms of the Malipieros

The building was probably built in the 10th or 11th century for the Soranzos , a family of very ancient origins who were very active in trade and who, among other things, built the adjacent church of San Samuele together with the Boldùs . The palace, which was raised by one floor in a contemporary style in the 13th century, was bequeathed in maternal line to the Cappellos in 1465 , another family dedicated to trading and probably already had business relationships with the Soranzos .

Around 1590 the Malipieros moved in with the Cappellos and a few years later, as a result of his marriage to Elisabetta Cappello and subsequent acquisitions , Caterino Malipiero acquired ownership of the entire building. Several restorations and expansions can be traced back to him, attested to in 1622 and bearing the seal "KM" (Caterino Malipiero), inserted in a relief above the entrance gate to the large entrance hall from Campo di San Samuele and the church of the same name . The proud coat of arms with the cock's claw appears in the church. At that time soldiers were strongly represented in the family; is guaranteed z. B. Guido Malipiero "de 'la Ca' Granda de 'San Samuel" (Palazzo Malipiero), first Venetian justice of the peace of Corfu , to whom a small island in front of the port of the city was dedicated by grateful inhabitants of the island, which until the end of the Venetian Lordship was called "Scoglio Malipiero" and is still today in Greek "Vido" (probably after Guido Malipiero).

Around 1725, the Malipieros began extensive restoration and expansion work, thanks to which the palace received its current compact and homogeneous appearance. The palace of the Cappellos and Malipieros , after being passed on in the family for four centuries, after the extinction of the House of Malipiero in 1778 and throughout the 19th century, like a large number of Venetian patrician palaces, went through multiple transfers from hand to hand.

These changes of ownership contributed significantly to the decay of the building, until the acquisition by the Barnabò family , who had undertaken a complete restoration in 1951, gave the palace and its interior an appearance in the style of the 18th century.

Giacomo Casanova and the Malipieros of San Samuele

Little information is available about the events that took place in the palace, although it is certain that at the end of the 15th century the Cappellos , in addition to their businesses, were very active in the burgeoning publishing industry and in the printing works in the warehouses next to Palazzo San Samuele have given numerous volumes of their brand.

We know, however, that the parish of San Samuele saw the construction of two theaters ( Teatro San Samuele and Teatro Sant'Angelo ), both very popular and successful, between 1656 and 1676, how the urban fabric of the neighborhood changed, which was increasingly inhabited by those involved in the theater: actors, writers and impresarios. This also had an impact on the Palazzo Malipiero.

For example, it is known that Giacomo Casanova , who was born on Calle della Comedia (now renamed Calle Malipiero ) in a building adjacent to Palazzo Malipiero, visited her eagerly from 1740 after meeting with Senator Alvise II. Malipiero , called “ Gasparo ”, handled confidentially.

Here he had the chance to have a series of conversations with key figures and a large number of women, up to the day he was caught off guard in an overly intimate situation in the company of Teresa Imer , a young woman into whom the elder Alvise II had fallen in love with Malipiero . As a result, the young Giacomo was chased out of the building in a bad way. Despite this misfortune, Casanova left us in his book Histoire de ma vie by Alvise II. Malipiero a lively and meaningful picture for the contribution to the history of customs in Venice in the 18th century. Even Carlo Goldoni , the nearby Corte del Duca and near the father of Teresa Imer , Giuseppe Imer , a known Theaterimpresarios, lived, was probably a guest of Senator Alvise .

In this unique atmosphere of frenzy, the Malipieros languished in passive decadence until they died out. The disappearance of theaters in the 19th century ended what had started with the fall of the Republic of Venice and the parish and palace were shrouded in silence. The Venetian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari died in Palazzo Malipiero in 1948 after he returned from exile in Switzerland , which he himself had chosen during World War II . And so it was not until 1950, thanks to the establishment of the center in Palazzo Grassi , that this corner of Venice regained some of its cultural dynamism. The Palazzo Malipiero had also signed up for the Barnabò art studio from 1986 onwards, and from 1991 it was the seat of the multimedia publishing house Il Tridente . Later, in 1999, Palazzo Malipiero hosted the Official Pavilion of the Republic of Slovenia at the Venice Biennale and in 2011 the Official Pavilion of the Republic of Montenegro , as well as many other art exhibitions. Today the palace is dedicated to Giacomo Casanova, with a museum that bears his name, which reconstructs and tells the story of the architectural development and the events that took place in the palace during the 10 centuries of its existence.

Architectural development

Luca Carlevarijs : View of the Palazzo Malipiero from the Grand Canal

Like all Venetian palaces, the Ca 'Granda di San Samuele has two main floors on top of each other, but in this case each of them has its own staircase, its own portal to the water and its own entrance portal from the street. On the second main floor you get through the older, Byzantine portal, while the large main portal leads into the large courtyard from the 17th century, which leads to the masterful apartment on the first main floor, to which a large, monumental inner courtyard, the portal to the canal and an 18th century garden are attached.

The architecture of the palace in its development reflects the tradition of many Venetian palaces with the freedom and progressive harmony of the structure typical of the city. The building actually reveals the stylistic signs of its diverse architectural nobility, indicated by the three successive eras: the Byzantine, the Gothic, and those of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The palace, together with some buildings behind it, was built by Soranzo between the 10th and the 11th centuries in the Venetian-Byzantine style, such as the large portal (house number 3201) and the quadruple window with donkey back arches (today integrated into the later, Gothic building) that are in the rear view of the Church of San Samuele.

Towards the middle of the 14th century, Soranzo also built a second storey on top of the old Ca 'Granda, as the pointed arch shape of the windows shows. The new Gothic part adapts to the floor below with the loggia and respects and integrates elements of the Byzantine construction.

After the mid-16th century, the Cappellos decided to have the palace expanded before they then had an obviously simpler and shorter building that took advantage of an empty space on the side of the garden and resulted in the facade facing the Grand Canal reached its current width.

The expansion of the palace was continued by Caterino Malipiero , who in 1622 had a new, wide reception hall (house number 3200) added to the apartment on the first main floor, where previously there was a small palace, which later leaned against the Grand Canal.

In the second half of the 17th century, the palace, with its architecture ignoring the Baroque , was among the richer and more notable in Venice.

Before the middle of the 18th century, the Malipieros finally had one last, extensive renovation carried out according to a complex plan that has not survived today in order to give their palace an even broader and more dignified form.

The palace was then merged with the building at the rear, eliminating the alley that separated them and turning the facades into plaza. In addition, the garden was expanded, integrating part of the Ramo Malipiero that surrounded the palace, creating a new perspective axis that leads from the main entrance from the square across the courtyard to the garden.

This is clearly attested by a reproduction of the palace made by Carlevarijs around 1718. Looking through it, you can clearly see how the side of the palace towards the church ends immediately behind the two access doors and not, like today, about 30 meters further. From the press, however, we know how the building was delimited by an alley called “Malipiero”, which has now disappeared (although this path was restored in the 20th century and bears the name of the neighboring “Calle della Comedia”, where Giacomo is Casanova was born).

In the 19th century the palace may have been neglected, but as an 18th century building it was kept intact, and some restoration work did not begin until the beginning of the 20th century, until then the Barnabò family carried out the radical restoration that was under the supervision of the 1950s was executed by Nino Barbantini , no longer permanently brought back the old view of the palace with its interiors and its unique garden.

The garden

The garden of Palazzo Malipiero, like many others, dates from the end of the 18th century, at the same time as the phenomenon of the disappearance of the great palace gardens from the outskirts of the city, aided by the expansion of industry, housing and commercial real estate.

Probably because of the typology of the building, which is characterized by a large entrance hall on the way from the square to the inner courtyard opposite the entrance from the canal, the layout of the garden is very original. The area, which is characterized by a simple boxwood design , extends along the side of the palace, facing both the courtyard and the Grand Canal.

So when the garden is divided into two mirror-symmetrical parts from the Grand Canal with a focus that coincides with the fountain of the Nymphaeum of Hercules , when one enters the garden from the 17th century reception hall, one grasps the perspective view connecting the lobby itself with the fountain and the great Neptune on the wall opposite the garden.

A rich set of statues from the 19th century makes a sensitive contribution to the setting of the garden. In addition, the use of the book with its dark and intensely colored tones and its skillful cut makes the setting more impressive and emphasizes the theatricality.

In the garden, the unity of Cappello and Malipiero is tellingly testified by the large puteal with the coat of arms of the Malipieros, which shows the agreement of the two spouses Caterino and Elisabetta .

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ "Palazzo Malipiero" is the most common name.
  2. ↑ Guida d'Italia - Venezia . 3. Edition. Touring, Milan 2007. ISBN 978-88-365-4347-2 .
  3. ↑ Umberto Franzoi, Mark Smith: Grand Canal . Arsenale, Venice 1993. ISBN 88-7743-131-8 .
  4. ^ Raffaella Russo: Palazzi di Venezia . Arsenale, Venice 1998. ISBN 88-7743-185-7 .
  5. ^ Venezia e provincia . Touring, Milan 2004. ISBN 88-365-2918-6 .
  6. ↑ On the other hand, some sources call it “Palazzo Cappello Malipiero Barnabò”.
  7. ↑ Marcello Brusegan. La grande guida dei monumenti di Venezia . Newton & Compton, Rome 2005. ISBN 88-541-0475-2 .
  8. ^ Jan-Christoph Rößler: Palazzo Cappello Malipiero Barnabò . venezia.jc-r.net. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ Some sources also call it “Palazzo Malipiero Cappello”.
  10. ^ Elsa Eleodori, Wanda Eleodori: Il Canal Grande. Palazzi e Famiglie . Corbo e Fiore, Venice 2007. ISBN 88-7086-057-4 .
  11. ↑ Il Tridente Editrice . Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  12. ^ Casanova Museum and Experience, Venezia . Retrieved November 29, 2019.

swell

  • Giovanni Dolcetti, Alvise de Michelis (editor): Le vicende storiche dell'antico Palazzo Soranzo (poi Cappello, Malipiero e Barnabò) a S. Samuele . Venice 2017.
  • Maria Cunico: Il giardino veneziano: la storia, l'architettura, la botanica . Venice 1989.
  • Elena Bassi: Palazzi di Venezia . Venice 1976.
  • Gino Damerini: La Ca 'Grande dei Cappello e dei Malipiero di S. Samuele ora Barnabò . Venice 1962.
  • Giuseppe Lorenzetti: Venezia e il suo estuario, guida storico-artistica . Venice 1926.
  • Giacomo Casanova: Histoire de ma vie . 1822-1828.

Web links

Commons : Palazzo Malipiero  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 45 ° 25 ′ 59.1 ″  N , 12 ° 19 ′ 40.9 ″  E