Palazzo Labia

The Canareggio Facade of the Palazzo Labia

The Palazzo Labia is a baroque mansion which was constructed in the 1690's. It is located at the junction of the Canareggio and Grand Canals.

The Labia were originally Spanish merchants. The family purchased an aristocratic title in the 18th century after the ranks of the Venetian nobility, which had been closed since 1297, were opened to the highest bidders. Funds for the Turkish Wars were desperately needed at the time.

Since the palace was constructed at the junction of Canareggio and Grand Canals and adjacent to the Campo San Geremia, three of its four facades faces a major public thoroughfare.

It is highly unusual for a Venetian palace to possess three principal facades. This extravagance provides an indication of the family's enormous wealth.

The grandest facade faces the Canareggio Canal. It was designed by Andrea Cominelli and possesses a recessed loggia and two piani nobili whose high-arched windows, balustrades and pilasters create a sharp chiaroscuro effect.

Cominelli's skilful design dispenses with the normal clutter associated with similar buildings such as the Ca' Rezzonico. An additional storey consisting of a recessed mezzanine with a series of oval windows under a protruding roof accentuates the chiaroscuro effect.

The facade on the Grand Canal is similar in design but more modest in scale. It is located several metres from the waterside and possesses only three bays.

The facade which faces the Campo San Geremia was designed by Alessandro Tremignon in the floral Gothic style typical of many Venetian palaces.

The two piani nobili are characterised by their high-pointed windows and centrally recessed loggias. However, by contrast with most Gothic palaces, the roof is decorated with a classical balustrade, and the loggias are glazed.

The San Geremia Facade of the Palazzo Labia

The palace is arranged around an interior courtyard. Its clever design creates the illusion that the campanile of the neighbouring church of San Geremia has been incorporated within its structure.

The ballroom, the Salone delle Feste, is vast. The third and fourth floors were amalgamated to create a double-height ceiling. This huge space was decorated in the 1740's by Tiepolo and Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna.

The frescos are remarkable for their trompe d’oeil techniques. A combination of clever perspective and life-size figures creates an illusion of real events unfolding beyond apparently three dimensional doors and windows.

Since Maria Labia, the wife of the original owner, was a great admirer of Cleopatra, the fescoes depict the Egyptian Empress meeting Mark Antony and hosting a banquet in his honour. In one scene, Cleopatra drops a pearl into a glass of wine and watches it dissolve.

Tiepolo: The meeting of Cleopatra and Antony, Palazzo Labia

Although the frescoes are undoubtedly some of Tiepolo's finest technical work they are often criticised as lacking emotional warmth.

Another of the staterooms, the Green Damask Salone, is notable for its marble fireplace and ceiling frescoes by Pompeo Batoni

The Labia suffered a reverse in fortunes after the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. The palace subsequently fell into a state of disrepair.

The lowest point came in 1945 when a munitions barge exploded in the Grand Canal causing the house’s foundations to crumble and parts of the frescos to shatter.

The palace found its saviour in Don Carlos de Bestegui, a Mexican mining heir and talented interior designer.

Having purchased the half-derelict palace in 1950, Don Carlos not only restored the building and its frescos but also re-stocked it with tapestries, antiques and works of art by masters such as Raphael, Carracci and Reni.

The Palazzo Labia became an important high society venue in the fifties and sixties during which the ballroom staged several spectacular events.

However, after the death of Don Carlos in 1970, the palace was purchased by the Italian broadcasting company.

The ballroom still hosts prestigious events but is only open to the public by special arrangement

© 2006 LACT Limited. All rights reserved.

Sitemap Ca' Rezzonico  Palazzo Labia  Museo Correr  Contarini del Bovolo  Fenice Opera House  Naval History Museum  Palazzo Venier dei Leoni  Ca' d'Oro  Ca' Pesaro  Fondaco dei Turchi  Palazzo Grassi Doge's Palace