Palazzo Dario

Palazzo Dario is a Venetian palace on the Grand Canal of Venice at the mouth of the Rio delle Torreselle in the Dorsoduro section of Venice and located on the "Campiello Barbaro". The palazzo was built in the floral Venetian Gothic style and was refaced with Renaissance features. The palace's formal address is "Dorsoduro 352". [ Palazzo Dario, Venice.JC-R.Net ]

History

The palazzo was remodelled after 1486 by a follower of Pietro Lombardo for Giovanni Dario, Secretary to the Venetian Senate, diplomat, and merchant. [ Tiepolo, MF. 2002. "I Greci nella Cancelleria veneziana: Giovanni Dario," I Greci à Venezia: Atti del convegno internazionale di studio, Venezia, 5-7 novembre 1998. Venice. 257-314.] After Dario's death in 1494, it passed to his daughter, Marieta, who was married to Vincenzo Barbaro, the son of Giacomo Barbaro and owner of the neighboring Palazzo Barbaro in the San Vio (St. Vitus) quarter. [ASV Atti Notarile b.1183 f.248, b. 1185 f.51v.] ["Mehmed the Conqueror & His Time", pg.370, Franz Babinger, Translated by Ralph Manheim, 1978, Princeton University Press] Marieta's sons received possession of the house in 1522. Before that time, the Senato rented it on occasion as a residence for Turkish diplomats. [ Marino Sanudo, in Diarii, XX:543, 540, for August 1515; XXII: 455, for August 1516; and XXIII:361 for December 1515.] The last Barbaro family owner was Alessandro Barbaro (1764-1839), a member of Venice's Council of Ten and Consigliere Aulico of the Supreme Tribunal of Verona. [ Vittorio Spreti, Enciclopedia Storico Nobiliare Italiana, "Barbaro" Lettera B p 277] [ Palazo Dario JC-R Net ]

Palazzo Dario is often described as one of Venice's most exotic palaces and typically compared to Ca d'Oro. It resides on an enchanting little square, the "Campiello Barbaro", named in honor of the patrician Barbaro family members who lived there. The square is shaded by trees and flanked by Palazzo Dario itself [ Boulton, Susie & Catling, Christopher, "Campiello Barbaro" in "Venice & the Veneto", (Dorling Kindersley, London 2001) p.135 ISBN 1-56458-861-0 ] The palazzo's eccentric beauty was of special interest to John Ruskin who described its marble-encrusted oculi in great detail. The Neo-gothic balconies were added to the structure in the 19th century, and the corner treatments of the palace has similarities to Palazzo Priuli a San Severo. The rear facade of the palace on the Campiello Barbaro has Gothic arches of the fifth order. [ Palazzo Dario, Venice. JC-R.Net ]

In 1908 the palazzo was the subject for a painting by Claude Monet (right) which now resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The palace's original high chimneys in the Venetian style are among the few remaining examples still in existence.

The palazzo today is private property and not normally open to the public. However, an agreement between the current owner and the Venetian art museum, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, makes it available for special art exhibitions. [ [http://nauplion.net/CaDario-HISTORY.html CaDario-HISTORY ] ]

Interior views

* http://nauplion.net/views.htm
* http://nauplion.net/Ca%20Dario-SGARBI.htm

Notes

References

* [http://venice.jc-r.net/palaces/dario.htm Dario Palace. Venice. JC-R Net] retrieved 03 October 2007
* Norwich, John Julius (1989). A History of Venice. New York, Vintage Books ISBN 0-679-72197-5
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=Y0qn0foDpUMC&pg=PA188&lpg=PA188&dq=palazzo+dario&source=web&ots=QdYxANSZIQ&sig=QMQC82w_XLnCfJo246dgs4EpzVg#PPP1,M1 Buckley, Jonathan. "The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto" ] retrieved 03 October 2007
*Tiepolo, Maria Francesca. 2002. "I Greci nella Cancelleria veneziana: Giovanni Dario," I Greci à Venezia: Atti del convegno internazionale di studio, Venezia, 5-7 novembre 1998. Venice. 257-314.

External links

Giovanni Dario [http://nauplion.net/ZD.html] Ca' Dario [http://nauplion.net/CaDario-PALAZZO.html]