Palazzo Labia
Palazzo Labia is a
In a city often likened to a cardboard film set, the Palazzo is unusual by having not only a formal front along the Grand Canal, but also a visible and formal facade at its rear, and decorated side as well, along the Cannaregio Canal. In Venice, such design is very rare. The palazzo was designed by the architect
The Labia
The
It is the members of the Labia family of the mid 18th century to whom the palazzo owes its notability today, it was inhabited by two brothers with their wives, children, and mother. The brothers Angelo Maria Labia and Paolo Antonio Labia employed Tiepolo at the height of his powers to decorate the ballroom. Employing Tiepolo seems to have been the most remarkable thing the brothers ever achieved. Angelo Maria became an
Design
Two little-known architects, Tremignon and Cominelli, were commissioned to design the palazzo. The selection of two comparatively unknown architects is strange, considering the desire of the Labia family to make an impression on Venetian society. However, the placement of the site more than compensated for any risk involved in the selection of unknown architects. The site chosen for the palazzo was the junction of the
While like many of the other larger palazzi in Venice the Palazzo Labia is rectangular in design built around an inner courtyard, the two architects Tremignon and Cominelli broke the architectural traditions of such architects as Longhena, by designing the facades of the Palazzo Labia to be more simple and less cluttered, than those of the earlier Venetian classical palazzi, while still maintaining a baroque richness achieved through the effect of light and shadow, a second break with Venetian architectural tradition was that the new palazzo had three facades, it was common practice in Venice for only the waterfront facade to have a richness of detail, while the rear elevations were often an evolved mismatch of asymmetrical windows and styles. The new palazzo's site being at the junction of two canals, and also bordering the Campo San Geremia provided the opportunity for three facades. Hence this attention to detail of the less obvious parts of the palazzo's exterior, away from its principal water front facade, was able to provide further evidence of the Labia's vast wealth.
The facade facing the Campo San Geremia is of equal splendour to that on the Cannaregio. The Grand Canal facade is the smaller of the three, set back from the fondamenta itself and of only three bays. The palazzo is of five floors. The ground and first floors are both low, the first being
Interior
The double height palazzo ballroom (or Salone delle Feste) is entirely frescoed with scenes from the romantic encounters of
While Tiepolo's frescoes in the ballroom are among his finest in Italy, they also display Tiepolo's shortcomings as an artist. He was totally uninterested in psychology; as a result of this, a debate continues today concerning the depiction (illustrated right) of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra, more specifically concerning whether this the meeting or the parting of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. Some experts claim they can detect a certain haughtiness in Cleopatra's pose which indicates that some form of farewell is intended, but opinion is strongly divided.
The remaining state rooms, built around the internal courtyard, pale in comparison to the ballroom. Nonetheless, each of those other rooms is a masterpiece in its own right. As for the Green Damask Salone, in addition to its sculpted fireplace of inlaid marble it contains huge frescoes, and a ceiling by Pompeo Batoni.
In the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries
The wealth and power of the Labia family declined with the fall of the Serene Republic in 1797. During the 19th century the Palazzo fell into decay. This coincided with a period where Tiepolo's work was unpopular and unappreciated. In 1945 a
In 1948 the palazzo acquired a new owner, Don Carlos de Beistegui (Charlie de Beistegui), French-born into a Basque-Spanish family heir to a Mexican fortune, who began an intensive restoration. Beistegui was a skilled natural interior decorator, and for the derelict palazzo, he purchased furnishings acquired from the palazzo's less fortunate neighbours, including frescoes by Raphael, Annibale Carracci, and Guido Reni. These works of art, coupled with newly acquired tapestries and antiques, restored to the palazzo its former splendour. So avid a collector was Don Carlos that his taste became known as le goût Beistegui (the Beistegui style)."
On 3 September 1951 Don Carlos held a masquerade ball, Le Bal oriental, at the Palazzo Labia. It was one of the largest and most lavish social events of the 20th century.[2] It launched the career of the Venetian fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who designed about 30 of the costumes worn by members of the "dolce vita" who attended. Christian Dior and Salvador Dalí designed each other's costumes. Cecil Beaton's photographs of the ball display an almost surreal society, reminiscent of the Venetian life immediately before the fall of the republic at the end of the 18th century. The party was to be one of the truly spectacular events ever held in the famous ballroom.
Don Carlos had a series of strokes in the 1960s and retired to his French seat at
Occasionally the ballroom is used for high-ranking international conferences and summits; this room and some of the state rooms are open to public viewing by appointment.
In April 2008 RAI put the palazzo on sale, binding it to cultural use, as requested by Venice Municipality.
Then during the press preview week of the
Notes
- ^ Great Houses of Europe edited by Sacheverell Sitwell.
- ^ Haden-Guest, Anthony (25 April 2015). "When Venice Threw The 'Ball of the Century'". Daily Beast. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ Sale of Chateau de Groussay Archived 2005-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "A Whirlwind Tour of the 2019 Venice Biennale". 20 May 2019.
- ^ "A Look Inside Dior's Lavish Masquerade Ball". 16 May 2019.
- ^ "The 58th Venice Biennale "May You Live in Interesting Times" - Part Two".
- ^ "Dior: Here's What Celebs Wore to the Tiepolo Ball".
References
- Sitwell; Sacheverell (1961). Great Houses of Europe. London: George Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-600-33843-6.
- Haskell, Francis (1963). Patrons and Painters a Study in the Relations Between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0-300-02540-8.
External links
- Frescoes in the Palazzo Labia by Tiepolo
- Giambattista Tiepolo, 1696-1770, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Palazzo Labia