Museum Ca’Pesaro:
Behind the tall windows of the magnificent Baroque facade of the Ca’Pesaro palace on the Grand Canal, owned by the Venetian municipality, is the Museum of Eastern Art. It so happened that the last owner of the palace, Duchess Felicita Bevilacqua La Masa, bequeathed it to the city on the condition that her collection of paintings and sculptures from the 19th-20th centuries would also be housed there. Now there are not one, but two museums in the palace.
In the mid-17th century, a wealthy Venetian family, the Pesaro family, commissioned a project from the famous architect Baldassare Longhena, the author and builder of the Santa Maria della Salute Cathedral and the Ca’Rezzonico palace. The construction of the building in the architect’s favorite Baroque style began in 1669; he managed to complete the inner courtyard with beautiful loggias and most of the facade, but passed away. The family entrusted the completion of the construction to Antonio Gaspari, who successfully accomplished the task, harmoniously complementing the architectural image with elements of classicism.
The composition of the facade facing the Grand Canal is complex, yet perfectly balanced. On the pedestal, lion heads facing the water are installed, the wall of the first floor above them is decorated with rusticated stone, and the double entrance portal is adorned with decorative masks and sculptures. A series of windows on the second and third floors are separated by Corinthian columns, with the space between them filled with bas-reliefs of flowers, and playful cupids settled above the window niches. The inner courtyard with a marble well is surrounded by arcades with Doric pilasters, concealing extensive terraces.
The interior retains frescoes and ceiling paintings by Niccolò Bambini, Giambattista Pittoni, Giovanni Crozzato, Francesco Trevisani, and Girolamo Brusaferro.
The exhibition features paintings by Franz von Stuck, Gustav Klimt, Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró, Yves Tanguy, Henri Matisse, Philip Maljavin, Mario Sironi, Paul Klee. The sculptures of Medardo Rosso, coated in hot wax, make a strong impression. The collection is constantly replenished with donations and new acquisitions. Works by Umberto Boccioni, Alberto Burri, Giorgio de Chirico, Mario Sironi, Giorgio Morandi, Filippo de Pisis have been purchased at the annual Venice Biennale with funds from a special city fund, and this process continues today.
The third floor houses a collection of Japanese artifacts from the Edo period 1603-1868. Famous swords, samurai armor, sculptures, drawings, fine porcelain, enamels, and netsuke figurines create a vivid and vibrant picture of the culture of the island empire under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. In separate halls, items of Indonesian and Chinese art are exhibited. The total number of exhibits is about 30,000.
Open every day except Monday, December 24, January 1
