Ca' d'Oro: The Golden House of Venice
The Palazzo Santa Sofia, also known as the Ca d'Oro. Photo by Batintherain.
The Palazzo Santa Sofia, also known as the Ca d'Oro, is in the Cannaregio district, on the north bank of the Grand Canal.
Designed in the floral Gothic style, it is widely considered to be one of Venice's most beautiful palaces. It was completed in 1430 for the influential Contarini family, eight of whose members were elected Doge of Venice.
The exterior was once
decorated with gilt facing and the palace became known as the Ca d'Oro
(house of gold) because of the golden shimmer created by the sun's
reflection on its walls.
The architects of the Ca d'Oro were Giovanni Bon and his son Bartolomeo.
Bartolomeo also designed parts of the Doges Palace including the Porta
Della Carta, and the monumental sculpture depicting the judgement of
Solomon.
The principal entrance is by the Grand Canal, through an open-arched
gallery, slightly recessed in order to create space for a mooring. The
colonnaded balconies on the piani nobili comprise an intricate
arrangement of balustrades, capitals and quatrefoil windows.
The Ca d'Oro is asymmetrical. It is uncertain whether this was the
original intention or whether the construction of an additional
symmetrical wing was prevented by a shortage of funds.
The external decoration has largely been lost although the original
coat-of-arms (1426), the balcony consoles and some polychrome marble
incrustations remain.
The Ca d'Oro, like many Venetian houses, is built around an internal
courtyard. The original Gothic wellhead, once an essential feature of
every Venetian courtyard, has survived, and provides a rare example of
an early 15th century "vera di pozzi".
The Porta della Carta also by Bartolomeo Bon. Note the similar floral Gothic style. Photo by Radomil 26.09.2004: GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
The Ca d'Oro passed
from the Contarini to the Marcelli and then to the Loredan family. It
was poorly maintained after the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797,
and fell into a state of decay.
A rapid succession of owners occupied the palazzo during the 19th
century, several of whom committed gross acts of vandalism. One, the
ballet dancer Marie Taglioni, inexplicably removed the original Gothic
stairwell, and demolished the ornate galleries that once overlooked the
interior courtyard.
Fortunately the palace found a saviour in Baron Giorgio Franchetti. The
baron acquired the Ca' d'Oro in 1894 and lovingly undertook its
extensive restoration until his death in 1922. He bequeathed both the Ca
d'Oro and his personal art collection to the Italian state.
The stairway, discarded by Marie Taglioni, has been fully restored and
the Ca D’Oro is now a museum and art gallery. The exhibits mostly
consist of pictures by Flemish and Italian renaissance masters, and the
remnants of the decorations which formerly graced the palace's façade.
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