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I was reading the book The City of Fallen Angels about Venice and the burning down of La Fenice, their opera house. The best part of the book for an architecture lover like myself, was the description of Palazzo Barbaro, a private home, which actually consists of two buildings and was once the hub of Venice's social, literary and art life.

If anyone has an interest in Venice, read this book. It's nonfiction and a fast read.

Getting back to the Palazzo, I wanted to know what it looked like inside. I read that it featured paintings by Tiepolo and that the writer Henry James had a desk residing there where he would stay for extended periods of time while working on a novel. It all seemed very romantic to me, the amount of history about the place.

So I've managed to find one B&W photo of the inside ballroom.

Also some tidbits about the palace....

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The ceilings are approximately 20 feet high featuring chandeliers that hanging 8 feet above the floor.

The upper curtian windows hide musician's galleries that could be used for dances or chamber music. The ballroom is towards the front of the building and the unseen wall (off frame-right) leads to balconies over the Grand Canal. The ceiling decorations by Giambattista Tiepolo are now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the large wall paintings include canvases by Sebastiano Ricci.



The painting An Interior in Venice is by Sargent circa 1898 and is set in the ballroom of Barbaro.



Imagine the photo in color and how sumptuous those furnishings are. The ceiling carvings and gold leaf and murals and paintings and...and...

I'm going to self destruct.

I would love to live in a place that offered up beauty like this. And Venice is on my list of "must do's."

Has anyone been there and/or seen any of these palazzos or the Doge's Palace or any of these incredible buildings??







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Red you must go there some day! It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL:-4 :-4

Fuzzy! You've been there?? Please tell!!

RedGlitter;662208 wrote: Fuzzy! You've been there?? Please tell!!


My room mate and I went 2 summers ago. We did a week in Rome first - OMG completely blew me away and then a week in Venice (which for me was SLIGHTLY too long) but totally wonderful:-4

I am so envious of you, little pink one!!

Do you have photos?? I would love to see some!!

I'm sure I do darlin' - I'll have a little root around for you over the next day or 2.

You really REALLY have to go sometime. You just get completely sucked into the atmosphere of the place.

It truely is awesome:-4 :-4 :-4

Thanks Fuzzy One!

I look forward to seeing your photos!

I am sure I would experience some culture shock and be awestruck at how beautiful Venice is but it's a chance I'd be willing to take.

RedGlitter;662227 wrote: Thanks Fuzzy One!

I look forward to seeing your photos!

I am sure I would experience some culture shock and be awestruck at how beautiful Venice is but it's a chance I'd be willing to take.


I'm sure you will hun but it is so worth it!

Mags those photo's are brilliant:-4

Beautiful pictures, Magenta. Are they yours? I mean from a trip to Venice? They're stunning.

I thoroughly enjoyed 'City of Fallen Angels' too. John Berendt's earlier book about Savannah 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' is one of my all time favourites. Venice is an awesome city!!!

Hi Pam! I have heard much about Midnight inthe Garden... but never thought to read it. I will pick up a copy and check it out. Thanks.

It's an amazing book, Red. I saw the film too, and that's different but also compelling. John Berendt gets right into the layers of history, the nuances etc of a place. The gossip. The whispers. Much much more than a travelogue. As is his book on Venice too. You feel you have somehow snuck right inside the place, and seen not just the palazzos but the dirty washing in the back, the grot in the alleys and the enduring beauty, the agelessness.

AussiePam;662260 wrote: It's an amazing book, Red. I saw the film too, and that's different but also compelling. John Berendt gets right into the layers of history, the nuances etc of a place. The gossip. The whispers. Much much more than a travelogue. As is his book on Venice too. You feel you have somehow snuck right inside the place, and seen not just the palazzos but the dirty washing in the back, the grot in the alleys and the enduring beauty, the agelessness.


Pam, you nailed it. The nuance...absolutely. I took that book to bed with me every night and it was like wandering through a familiar neighborhood. He made a place I'd never been to seem familiar to me.

Thank you Magenta. I appreciate that and I would love to see more.

Wow, those are gorgeous!!!