The Napoleonic or Biennale Gardens are public gardens in Venice, located in the Castello district. They constitute the largest green area in the historic center and, as the name suggests, are home to the Venice International Art Exhibition.
The Giardini della Biennale, often simply referred to as the
Giardini, is a historic parkland area located on the eastern edge of
Venice in the Castello sestiere. It was originally created in the early
19th century under the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte during the French
occupation of Venice. In 1807, Napoleon decreed the establishment of
public green spaces in the city, which lacked such areas at the time. To
create the Giardini, marshland along the Bacino di San Marco, adjacent
to St. Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace, was drained and transformed
into Venice's first public park. This initiative marked a significant
urban development, providing a recreational space for residents and
visitors in a city dominated by canals and dense architecture. The
park's name, "Giardini," simply means "gardens" in Italian, reflecting
its initial purpose as a green oasis amid the urban lagoon environment.
Throughout the 19th century, the Giardini served primarily as a public
park, featuring pathways, trees, and open spaces. Notable early
additions include sculptures such as the statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi
near the entrance and a monument to composer Richard Wagner by Fritz
Schaper, installed in 1908 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of
Wagner's death in Venice. The area also became known for its population
of wild cats, which continue to roam the grounds today.
Establishment of the Venice Biennale and Early Exhibitions (1893–1906)
The Giardini's transformation into a cultural hub began in the late 19th
century with the founding of the Venice Biennale, the world's oldest
international art exhibition. In 1893, under Mayor Riccardo Selvatico,
the Venetian City Council resolved to create a biennial exhibition of
Italian art to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of King Umberto
I and Queen Margherita di Savoia. Originally scheduled for 1894, the
first edition, titled "I Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città
di Venezia," was delayed and opened on April 30, 1895, in the presence
of the royal couple.
To host the event, the city commissioned the
construction of the Palazzo dell'Esposizione (initially called the Pro
Arte Pavilion) in the Giardini in 1894. Designed by architect Enrico
Trevisanato with a Liberty-style facade by Marius De Maria and
Bartolomeo Bezzi, this central building became the nucleus of the
Biennale. The inaugural exhibition attracted over 224,000 visitors and
featured works by Italian and international artists displayed together
without national divisions. The second edition in 1897 and subsequent
ones saw growing attendance, reaching about 300,000 visitors by 1899,
which underscored the event's success and prompted further development.
Until 1905, all Biennale activities were confined to this Central
Pavilion. The exhibition adopted an invitation system for artists,
reserved spaces for foreigners, and included a jury for selecting works,
fostering an international scope from the start.
Expansion and
the Era of National Pavilions (1907–1938)
The overwhelming popularity
of the early Biennales led to the introduction of national pavilions,
turning the Giardini into a unique architectural anthology of
20th-century design. In 1907, Belgium became the first foreign country
to build its own pavilion, designed by Léon Sneyers, marking the
beginning of a trend where nations constructed dedicated spaces to
showcase their artists. This expansion was encouraged by La Biennale to
accommodate the growing number of participants and visitors.
Pavilions proliferated rapidly:
1909: Hungary (Géza Rintel
Maróti), Germany (Daniele Donghi; rebuilt in 1938 by Ernst Haiger),
Great Britain (Edwin Alfred Rickards).
1912: France (Umberto
Bellotto; later attributed to Faust Finzi in some sources), Netherlands
(Gustav Ferdinand Boberg; rebuilt in 1953 by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld).
1914: Russia (Aleksej V. Scusev).
1922: Spain (Javier De Luque;
facade renovated in 1952 by Joaquin Vaquero Palacios).
1926: Czech
Republic and Slovak Republic (Otakar Novotny).
1930: United States
(Chester Holmes Aldrich and William Adams Delano).
1932: Denmark
(Carl Brummer; expanded in 1958 by Peter Koch), Venice Pavilion (Brenno
del Giudice; expanded in 1938).
1934: Austria (Josef Hoffmann),
Greece (M. Papandreou and B. Del Giudice).
The Central Pavilion
itself underwent multiple transformations: an entrance by Ernesto Basile
in 1905, decorations by Galileo Chini (1907–1909), a facade by Guido
Cirilli in 1914, the Rotonda by Gio Ponti in 1928, and in 1932, it was
renamed the Italian Pavilion with a new facade by Duilio Torres.
During this period, the Biennale evolved under fascist influence after
becoming an autonomous entity in 1930 via Royal Decree. New sectors like
music, cinema, and theater were added, but the Giardini remained focused
on visual arts. Exhibitions featured avant-garde works, including
retrospectives of artists like Gustav Klimt (1910) and Amedeo Modigliani
(1922), though some controversial pieces (e.g., a Picasso in 1910) were
censored.
World War II Interruption (1939–1945)
The outbreak
of World War II disrupted the Biennale. The last pre-war Art Exhibition
was held in 1942, with activities halting in September of that year.
From 1943 to 1945, the Giardini pavilions were repurposed as film
studios by Cinecittà (known as "Cinecittà Village"), reflecting the
site's temporary shift from art to wartime utility. The Film Festival
was suspended from 1943 to 1945, resuming in 1946, while music and
theater restarted in 1947.
Post-War Revival and Modern Expansions
(1948–1990s)
The Biennale resumed in 1948 with the 24th Art
Exhibition, signaling a return to cultural prominence. Architect Carlo
Scarpa played a pivotal role from 1948 to 1972, designing expansions
such as a loft in the Central Pavilion (1968) to double exhibition space
and the Garden of Sculptures in 1952. New pavilions continued to be
added:
1952: Israel (Zeev Rechter), Switzerland (Bruno
Giacometti).
1954: Venezuela (Carlo Scarpa).
1956: Japan (Takamasa
Yoshizaka), Finland (Alvar Aalto; pre-fabricated trapezoidal design).
1958: Canada (BBPR Group).
1960: Uruguay.
1962: Nordic Countries
(Sverre Fehn).
1964: Brazil (Amerigo Marchesin).
1987: Australia
(Philip Cox; rebuilt in 2015 by Denton Corker Marshall).
1995: Korea
(Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso).
In 1977, the Auditorium by
Valeriano Pastor was added, later converted into a library. The Giardini
also began hosting the Architecture Biennale from 1980, alternating with
the Art Biennale, expanding its scope beyond visual arts. The Stirling
Pavilion (Book Pavilion), a metal-and-glass structure by James Stirling,
opened in 1991 for the 5th Architecture Exhibition.
Contemporary
Developments (2000s–Present)
In the 21st century, the Giardini has
undergone significant renovations to modernize its facilities while
preserving its historical character. In 2009, as part of a major
reorganization, the Central Pavilion was transformed into a
3,500-square-meter multifunctional space, incorporating educational
areas, a bookstore, and a cafeteria designed by contemporary artists
like Massimo Bartolini, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Tobias Rehberger. This
project, completed in 2011, included restorations of historic elements
such as the Galileo Chini dome and the Ottagonale Hall.
The Biennale
Library, integrated into the Central Pavilion since 2009, houses over
151,000 volumes and 3,000 periodicals focused on contemporary arts,
drawing from the ASAC archive. Recent editions have emphasized themes
like sustainability and global issues, with exhibitions spreading from
the Giardini to the nearby Arsenale. Visitor numbers have soared, with
records like 178,000 for the 2010 Architecture Biennale.
Today, the
Giardini hosts 29 permanent national pavilions (some sources cite 30,
including variations), representing countries worldwide and showcasing
an array of architectural styles from neoclassical to modernist. It
remains the pre-eminent venue for the Venice Biennale, alternating
between Art (even years since 2021) and Architecture exhibitions,
attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Proposed
additions, such as Qatar's pavilion announced in 2023, indicate ongoing
evolution, though only a few new structures have been added in recent
decades. The site continues to blend history, art, and nature, embodying
Venice's cultural legacy.
The gardens contain a florid vegetation, among which the various
twentieth-century architectures of the pavilions are organized,
mostly around a central avenue from which minor paths unfold, each
characterized by the name of the hosted nation.
Below is the
list of exhibition pavilions dedicated to each participating nation,
in chronological order of construction with the corresponding
architects:
Central pavilion (ex Italian pavilion) - formerly
"Pro Arte palace": Enrico Trevisanato, facade by Mario de Maria and
Bartholomeo Bezzi, 1895; new facade by Guido Cirilli, 1914; renamed
"Italian Pavilion", facade by Duilio Torres, 1932; inside the
current pavilion there is the sculpture garden, designed by Carlo
Scarpa in 1952, and the Pastore auditorium by Valeriano Pastor, from
1977.
Belgian pavilion, by Léon Sneyers, 1907; restored by Virgil
Vallot, 1948
Hungarian pavilion, by Géza Rintel Maróti, 1909;
restored by Benkhard August, 1958
Germany pavilion, by Daniele
Donghi, 1909, demolished and rebuilt in 1938 by Ernst Haiger
Great Britain pavilion, by Edwin Alfred Rickards, 1909
France
pavilion, by Umberto Bellotto, 1912
Holland Pavilion, by Gustav
Ferdinand Boberg, 1912, demolished and rebuilt 1953 by Gerrit Thomas
Rietveld
pavilion Russia, by Alexei Scusev V., 1914
Spain
pavilion, by Javier De Luque, 1922, with facade renovated in 1952 by
Joaquin Vaquero Palacios
Czech and Slovak Republic pavilion by
Otakar Novotny, 1926, enlarged and reconstructed by Boguslav
Rychlinch, 1970
United States of America pavilion, by Chester
Holmes Aldrich and William Adams Delano, 1930
Denmark pavilion,
by Carl Brummer, 1932, extended 1958 by Peter Koch
Venice
pavilion, by Brenno Del Giudice, 1932, enlarged in 1938; this
pavilion is a single large architectural structure that hosts the
participations of several nations (Serbia, Egypt, Poland and
Romania). In 2011 the central exedra built in 1932 was reopened to
the public after the restoration
Austria pavilion, by Josef
Hoffmann with the collaboration of Robert Kramreiter, 1934; restored
by Hans Hollein, 1984
Greece pavilion, by M. Papandréou and
Brenno Del Giudice, 1934
Ticket office, Carlo Scarpa, 1951
Israel Pavilion, by Zeev Rechter, 1952; modified by Fredrik Fogh,
1966
Switzerland pavilion by Bruno Giacometti, 1952
Venezuela
pavilion by Carlo Scarpa, 1954
Japan pavilion, by Takamasa
Yoshizaka, 1956
Finland pavilion, by Alvar Aalto, 1956; restored
by Fredrik Fogh with the collaboration of Elsa Makiniemi, 1976-1982
Canada Pavilion, by the BBPR Group (Gian Luigi Banfi, Ludovico
Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, Ernesto Nathan Rogers),
1958
Uruguay pavilion, former warehouse of the Biennale, 1958,
handed over to the government of Uruguay, 1960
pavilion of the
Nordic Countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland), by Sverre Fehn, 1962;
adjacent is a small building by Fredrik Fogh, 1987
Brazil
pavilion, by Amerigo Marchesin, 1964
Australian pavilion, by
Philip Cox, 1987
Library, by James Stirling, 1991
Korea
pavilion, by Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso, 1995
Inside the Gardens there are numerous monuments, most of which are
located in the area adjacent to the basin of San Marco.
Partial
list:
monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi by Augusto Benvenuti (1885);
monument to Francesco Querini (1867–1900), explorer who died trying to
reach the North Pole, by Achille Tamburlini (1905);
monument to Pier
Luigi Penzo, aviator, by Francesco Scarpabolla (1902–1999) from 1932;
monument to Riccardo Selvatico by Pietro Canonica, inaugurated on 25
April 1903, on the occasion of the opening of the V Biennale, is a
tribute to the mayor who promoted the exhibition;
monument to the
Soldiers of land and sea, sculpture by Augusto Benvenuti, which
commemorates the help given by the military during the disastrous flood
of 1882. Inaugurated on 16 March 1885, it was located in the nearby
Campo San Biagio and was moved to its current location after the second
disastrous flood of Polesine in November 1951;
monument to Richard
Wagner, the great composer who died in Ca' Vendramin Calergi, work of
1908 by Fritz Schaper (1841–1919);
monument to Giosuè Carducci,
sculpture by Annibale De Lotto from 1912;
monument to Gustavo Modena
by Carlo Lorenzetti;
bust of Giorgio Emo di Capodilista;
bust of
Giuseppe Verdi;
monument to Guglielmo Oberdan by Annibale De Lotto;
monument to the fallen in captivity and to the veterans of Venice by
Angelo Franco;
monument to the Partisan by Augusto Murer on a base by
Carlo Scarpa;
Minerva on the lion, sculpture by Antonio Giaccarelli,
which until 1938 was placed to decorate the facade of the Gallerie
dell'Accademia.