The Ca' Rezzonico

The Ca' Rezzonico in Venice
The Ca' Rezzonico in Venice. (Photo by Dmitry Shakin)

This Grand Canal palazzo houses the Museo del '700 Veneziano, or Museum of 18th-Century Venice

The ballroom in the Ca' Rezzonico in Venice.
The ballroom in the Ca' Rezzonico.
This handsome 17th-century canalside palazzo, designed by Baldassare Longhena (who also did the Ca' Pesaro and Santa Maria della Salute church), reopened in 2001 after major renovations.

The Rezzonico offers an intriguing look into what living in a grand Venetian home was like in the last days of the grand Republic.

The ballroom alone, lavishly frescoed by Giovanni Battista Crosato and Pietro Visconti, will evoke the lifestyle of the idle Venetian rich.

It's a splendid backdrop for a collection of period paintings (especially works by Tiepolo, Guardi, and Longhi), furniture, tapestries, and artifacts—including an old-school private gondola.

The Museum of 18th-Century Venice

Pope Clement XIII (Carlo Rezzonico).
Pope Clement XIII (a.k.a. Carlo Rezzonico) by Anton Raphael Mengs (1758).
This museum is one of the best windows into the sometimes frivolous life of the Venice of 250 years ago, as seen through the tastes and fashions of the wealthy Rezzonico merchant family, who bought the place in 1751, a few years before family patriarch Carlo Rezzonico (1693–1769) was elevated to become Pope Clement XIII.

The Rezzonico line died out in 1810, but the palazzo had a bit of history left to make.

The great artist Whistler stayed here in 1879–80.

After Elizabeth Barrett Browning died, her son Pen bought the palace in 1888 and moved in with his grieving father, the English poet Robert Browning, who died here in 1889.

It's been open to the public as a museum since 1936.

Be on the lookout, toward the end of the museum, for a delightful series of paintings by Pietro Longhi depicting everyday Venetian life as it was in the 18th century.

These more than two-dozen amazing canvases (a sampling reproduced below) showcase daily life at every level. There are street vendors and pickpockets, washerwomen and merchant-princes, scent-sellers and fortune-tellers, musicians and professionals (which in the era meant alchemists and apothecaries).

The painting showcase every station of life, from poor tavern-goers living it up, wench-style, to be-wigged patricians partaking of their morning hot chocolate (which was all the rage for a while after the discovery of the New World).

The Alchemist (1757) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Alchemist (1757) by Pietro Longhi.
The Hilarious Pair (1740) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Hilarious Pair (1740) by Pietro Longhi.
The Morning Chocolate (1775/80) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Morning Chocolate (1775/80) by Pietro Longhi.
The Apothecary (1752) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Apothecary (1752) by Pietro Longhi.
The Perfume Seller (1757) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Perfume Seller (1741) by Pietro Longhi.
The Vendor of Roast Meat (1757) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Vendor of Roast Meat (1757) by Pietro Longhi.
Making Polenta (1740) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
Making Polenta (1740) by Pietro Longhi.
The Montebank (1757) by Pietro Longhi in the Museo del '700 Veneziano in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
The Montebank (1757) by Pietro Longhi.
 

Tips & links

Details

Ca' Rezzonico - Museo del '700 Veneziano
Fondamenta Rezzonico 3136, Dorsoduro
Vaporetto: Ca' Rezzonico. (Go straight, turn right across Campo S. Barnaba, cross a footbridge, turn right again.)
tel. +39-041-241-0100
www.visitmuve.it
€10
With Museum Pass: free

Book tickets:
Select Italy

Open Wed-Mon 10am-5pm (to 4pm Nov-Mar)

Ca' Rezzonico tours

Tours
Take a tour: Book a guided tour of Venice that includes a visit to the Ca' Rezzonico:

How long does the Ca' Rezzonico take?

Planning your day: The museum takes only about 30–45 minutes to visit, maybe 90 minutes if you really get into it. Venice itineraries

Museum Pass

You can get into the Ca' Rezzonico using the Museum Pass cumulative ticket. If you use it just for this museum and the Doge's Palace, you've already saved money—just €0.50, but still.

Nearby sights, dining, hotels

Sights nearby
★★★ Grand Canal (sight)
★★ Scuola Grande di San Rocco (sight)
★★★ Accademia (museum)

Where to eat nearby
Enoteca Cantinone Già Schiavi (snack)
★★ Trattoria Ai Cugnai (meal)

Hotels nearby
Hotel Palazzo Stern (€€€)
Appartamenti Ca' Rezzonico (€€)
Hotel Ca' Centopietre (€€)
Reid Recommends Hotel Pensione Accademia (€€€)
Locanda Matir (€€)

»
» More hotels in Dorsoduro from Booking.com

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Details

Ca' Rezzonico - Museo del '700 Veneziano
Fondamenta Rezzonico 3136, Dorsoduro
Vaporetto: Ca' Rezzonico. (Go straight, turn right across Campo S. Barnaba, cross a footbridge, turn right again.)
tel. +39-041-241-0100
www.visitmuve.it
€10
Book tickets: Select Italy

Open Wed-Mon 10am-5pm (to 4pm Nov-Mar)

With Museum Pass: free

Ca' Rezzonico tours
• Context: Casanova’s Venice
• One-Day Venice: An Introduction to the City

Nearby
Sights nearby
★★★ Grand Canal (sight)
★★ Scuola Grande di San Rocco (sight)
★★★ Accademia (museum)

Where to eat nearby
Enoteca Cantinone Già Schiavi (snack)
★★ Trattoria Ai Cugnai (meal)

Hotels nearby
Hotel Palazzo Stern (€€€)
Appartamenti Ca' Rezzonico (€€)
Hotel Ca' Centopietre (€€)
Reid Recommends Hotel Pensione Accademia (€€€)
Locanda Matir (€€)
»
» More hotels in Dorsoduro from Booking.com


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