Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro

Arts Venue and Historic Building in Venice

The Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro is an art museum located in the Ca’ d’Oro on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.

The Baron Giorgio Franchetti (1865–1927), was born to a prominent family of Turin. Initially trained in a military school, he preferred the study of music and collecting art. He married in 1890 the Baroness Maria Hornstein Hohenstoffeln. However, by 1891 he had moved to Venice, and there soon purchased the then dilapidated Ca’ d’Oro and set upon restoring the building, as possible, to its 15th-century layout.

Franchetti also traveled widely to purchase objects for the palace, including in Paris the palace’s original well head (1427) by Bartolomeo Bon. He supervised much of the restoration, added the mosaic floor collections, and constructed a chapel to house his Mantegna St Sebastian. The inner courtyard mosaic was designed by the Baron himself. His grandson helped further his wish, stated in 1916, to make the house and his collection a museum. The palace officially became a museum inaugurated on January 18, 1927.

The Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Venice!

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