The Palaces of Venice
"A Venetian palace that has not too grossly suffered and that is not overwhelming by its mass makes almost any life graceful that may be led in it. With cultivated and generous contemporary ways it reveals a pre-established harmony." Henry James
A trip down the Grand Canal offers a survey of of how the Venetian palazzo, at once a residence and a place of business, developed. Starting with the Gothic, the basic scheme of the Venetian palace façade is a tripartite vertical division into a central, main section flanked by narrower side sections (torriselle), corresponding to the arrangement of the interior. In the Renaissance the division into three sections began to give way to articulation extending across the entire façade.
The main entrance of the palazzo, when it faces the water, opens into an androne, or entrance hall, which is flanked by rooms often used as warehouses. Above the androne are one or two piano nobili, the mains floors, each with a portego, or reception hall, running from the front of the building to the back. There is also usually a subsidiary land entrance.
The word ca' (Venetian abbreviation for casa), rather than palazzo, was used to describe even the grandest of houses until the 19th century. The word still survives to describe some of the most important palaces on the Grand Canal, such as the Ca' Foscari or the Ca' Pesaro.
The main entrance of the palazzo, when it faces the water, opens into an androne, or entrance hall, which is flanked by rooms often used as warehouses. Above the androne are one or two piano nobili, the mains floors, each with a portego, or reception hall, running from the front of the building to the back. There is also usually a subsidiary land entrance.
The word ca' (Venetian abbreviation for casa), rather than palazzo, was used to describe even the grandest of houses until the 19th century. The word still survives to describe some of the most important palaces on the Grand Canal, such as the Ca' Foscari or the Ca' Pesaro.
