Palazzo Mocenigo is a stately building in Venice, located at number
1992 in the Santa Croce district, along the salizada di
San Stae.
It is home to the Museum
and Study Center of the History of Fabrics, Costumes and Perfume of
Palazzo Mocenigo.
Palazzo Mocenigo, already existing in the sixteenth century, has a
seventeenth-century imprint in its current characteristics, the result
of the renovations that the Mocenigo family carried out on the building
at the beginning of the seventeenth century, to live there until the
early twentieth century.
It was 1945 when the last exponent of
the family, Alvise Nicolò Mocenigo, bequeathed the building to the
municipality of Venice, which became an art gallery, still active today,
together with the Study Center of the History of Textiles and Costume,
open in the 1980s.
This donation was challenged starting from the
end of the seventies by Alvise Coletti, descendant by female line of the
Mocenigo family, who claimed his co-inheritance. The judicial process
continued until the early 1990s when the Court of Venice recognized the
legitimacy of Coletti's requests, who had died in the meantime, and
awarded him compensation.
Description
The building consists of
five levels: ground floor, mezzanine, two noble floors and an attic
mezzanine.
The building has two similar facades, one on the
salizada di San Stae, one on the rio: both are worth noting because in
the centre, on the noble floors, they are opened by two overlapping
serlianas, which give the facades great elegance with a Renaissance
flavour. The facade on the salizada differs from the other because, to
the left of the main body, it has a smaller body which lacks the second
noble floor and the mezzanine, but the beautiful serliana on the first
floor is not missing; the facade on the rio instead presents the third
serliana on the ground floor, which acts as a portal on the water.
Internally the building has well-preserved frescoes on the main
floors.
Study center and museum
Since 1985, the headquarters of the
Study Center of the History of Fabrics and Costumes and of the
Museum of the History of Fabrics and Costumes have been established
there. In addition to preserving the precious collections mostly of
Venetian origin, the Center offers scholars an important library
specialized in the sector. In 2013, following a careful restoration
of the interior of the building, the interior was enlarged with a
new section (5 rooms) dedicated to the history of perfume and
essences which highlights the ancient cosmetic tradition of Venice.
The new layout has maintained not only the main elements of
architecture and structure, but also the best furnishings and period
furniture, the majestic frescoes and stuccos without losing even the
precious marmorino, floors and fixtures. With this reorganization of
the museum, no less than nineteen rooms on the noble floor of the
building have been involved, re-proposing the evocative environment
of an authentic eighteenth-century Venetian noble residence. At the
same time, a path has been created dedicated to understanding the
evolution of fashion, costume and textile trends.
This
project was supported and made possible thanks to the well-known
Mavive SPA perfumery company of the Vidal family. She is the
supplier of technical and scientific support for essence
installations. The Drom perfume house has made its extraordinary
collection of Storp Flacons available to the gallery. The new
location, fully functional as a museum, has spaces also intended for
educational training: real "olfactory stations" have been introduced
which allow visitors to deepen their knowledge of the history of
perfume and essences by exploiting their senses.
The visit
route was completely renovated and expanded in 2013. There are no
less than twenty rooms on the first noble floor. Here the exhibition
areas opened in 1985 were doubled. Thanks to the layout studied by
Pier Luigi Pizzi, internationally renowned architect, director and
set designer, the paintings and furnishings of the building have
undergone a great integration with the addition of many works. These
novelties come from various locations and deposits of the Civic
Museums of Venice, have undergone considerable recovery and
enhancement work but are finally on display for the first time.
The environment is intended to describe as a whole different
aspects of the life of the Venetian aristocracy between the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Inhabited by mannequins
wearing antique clothes and accessories owned by the Study Center of
the History of Fabrics and Costumes, annexed to the Museum. These
dresses, made in textured fabrics and embellished with embroidery
and lace, document the accuracy of the craftsmen of the time and the
refined elegance that made the Venetian culture famous. The care and
details and the reality on display make the purpose of the museum
appreciated with regard to the history of fashion and its infinite
evolutions not only from the point of view of textiles but also of
clothing.
The new section is dedicated to dedicated to
perfume. A particular aspect of the history of Venetian costume so
far little studied. The museum wants to highlight the role and
origins of this cosmetic and aesthetic tradition. There are six
rooms dedicated to perfume on the main floor. The path is equipped
with multimedia tools that want to offer sensory experiences in an
unprecedented information path. The ground floor is open to the
public offering a Multimedia Room, a well-equipped Perfume
Laboratory and the White Room: a space intended for events that
rotate over time.
The building also houses the Cinema Circuit Library.