Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is a civil building located in the city of Venice and part of the Cannaregio district. It overlooks the Rio di Noale and the Rio di Santa Fosca, next to Palazzo Pasqualigo Giovannelli.
We do not know the designer of this complex, in the past attributed to Filippo Calendar, architect of Palazzo Ducale. The Palace, already donated in 1538 to Francesco Maria I Della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, became the property of Giovanni Battista Donà, who was however forced to sell it to the Giovannelli family due to debts. The building has been extensively renovated several times: first by Giovanni Battista Meduna between 1847 and 1848 and then in the middle of the twentieth century.
The building, located at the confluence of two rivers, has two
facades.
The façade on the Rio di Noale or di Noal has a
beautiful late-Gothic monumental façade. The ground floor is
characterized by an important water portal and small lancet windows with
pointed arches, while the main floors have two important heptafores and
numerous atriums: the most valuable elements of this layout are the
mullioned window on the first noble floor, with an extraordinary
extension, and the corner mullioned windows, which develop on two
facades enriching the corners.
The facade on the Rio di Santa Fosca,
despite being about forty meters long and facing an important waterway,
appears simpler than the main one. Renovated several times, it appears
as the contamination of several styles: Gothic, late Renaissance,
eighteenth-century and neo-Gothic. The only element of real importance
is the mullioned window which overlooks the main hall.
On the back
there is a garden, occupied by a traditional tajapietra activity.
The Palace develops around a large central courtyard, which can be
reached through the monumental portal. An octagonal staircase overlooks
it, which reaches the main floor. The building also has two other
staircases, also facing the courtyard, but of a more traditional nature.
The piano nobile is characterized by the absence of the central portego,
typical of most Venetian palaces; instead it is divided into a multitude
of smaller rooms, enriched with stuccos, chests of drawers and
fireplaces, among which a hall stands out, characterized by its ambo
shape and tripartite through the use of columns.
The interiors
have been completely redesigned by Giovanni Battista Meduna. The Palazzo
once housed works such as Giorgione's Tempesta.