Palazzo Basadonna Giustinian Recanati is a Venetian palace located in the Dorsoduro district at number 1012, overlooking the Fondamenta Priuli, not far from Palazzi Contarini degli Scrigni and Corfù and opposite Palazzo Bollani.
This building was built by an anonymous architect for the Contarini family during the 14th century. In 1626 it passed to the Alvise brothers, Antonio and Giovanni Basadonna, who charged Baldassare Longhena with the stylistic modernization. In 1758 the Palazzo changed hands again, coming to the Priuli family. On this occasion, an important restoration of the internal parts took place. Coming into the hands of the Giustinian Recanati counts, it was donated by the latter to the Municipality of Venice so that it could become the seat of a school. Between 1970 and 1975 it was completely renovated and converted to its new function. The building currently houses the headquarters of the state art school of Venice but is open to guided tours. In 2002 works were carried out to protect the entrance hall from high tides.
It is an architectural complex whose main facade, dating back to the
early 17th century, appears simple and linear, almost in contrast with
the Baroque forms that were beginning to make their way into the
Venetian architectural tradition. The rear facade also follows this
style. The traditional architectural form of the building does not seem
to refer to the intervention of Baldassare Longhena, who probably
preferred to refer to a sixteenth-century model as already done for
Palazzo Giustinian Lolin. However, this intervention is documented by
numerous documents of the time.
The main facade has three levels
in height: the ground floor, moved by small quadrangular openings and
broken by the vast portal, the first floor, characterized by the
presence of an imposing serliana flanked by three pairs of single lancet
windows, arranged asymmetrically, the second floor, which takes up this
scheme by replacing the serliana with three slightly spaced arched
openings. All levels are marked by stringcourses and the various
openings have female heads in the keystone. The rear facade, with a much
simpler impact, takes up the large serliana and the three arched
openings, which it surrounds with numerous single-lancet windows. On the
ground floor there is a large earthen portal which leads into the
portego.
The traditional architectural form of the Venetian
building in Fontego, with a portico and warehouses on the ground floor
and a tripartite structure on the upper floors, is also reflected in
this work. Inside and especially on the main floor there are still today
some original rooms bearing neoclassical stuccos and frescoes, dating
back to different eras: the decorations of the gowns were made around
the mid-eighteenth century, while they date back to the early eighteenth
and 'nineteenth century many frescoes. All was partially recovered
thanks to the interventions of the Province of Venice which oversaw the
restoration. Conversely, the Basadonna's extensive collection of
paintings was lost. Also relevant is the garden located at the rear of
the complex, on which the rear facade stands. It was probably designed
by Giuseppe Jappelli (1783-1852) and became very famous as it was able
to accommodate variations on the theme of English romantic architecture
in confined spaces, proposing small hills and winding paths.