Palazzo Gussoni Grimani Della Vida is a palace in Venice, located in the Cannaregio district and facing the left side of the Grand Canal, opposite Ca' Pesaro, between Casa Velluti and Palazzetto Da Lezze.
The current residence was built between 1548 and 1556 for the
Gussonis, members of a family present in Venice since the 11th century.
The architect in charge of the renovation of the previous Gothic
residence was most likely Michele Sanmicheli, as also attested by
Francesco Sansovino, but not all scholars agree. Seat between 1614 and
1618 of the English embassy, between 1647 and 1690 it was the seat of
the Delphic Academy, also called Gussoniana, which distinguished itself
for the study of eloquence.
The owner family died out in 1735
with the death of Senator Giulio Gussoni, who left the property to his
wife Faustina Lazzari and daughter Giustiniana, who later became known
for her elopement with the Bergamo count Francesco Tassis. The
subsequent owners were the Grimanis, who bought the building during the
18th century, and Cesare Della Vida, a wealthy businessman of Jewish
origin. Passed to state property, today it is the seat of the Veneto
Regional Administrative Court.
The main elevation, facing the Grand Canal and particularly elegant,
is characterized as per tradition by the horizontal and vertical
tripartition. At the center of the composition, two four-light windows
with balconies stand out, one superimposed on the other. However, the
first noble floor is of greater expressive intensity thanks to the
presence of the projecting balcony and the upper cornice. The facade is
divided into sectors by the presence of numerous cornices, one of which
serves simultaneously as a connection to the mullioned window and as a
base for the curvilinear tympanums which overlook the secondary
openings.
Despite all this, the front, marked by the chiaroscuro
created by the presence of two coats of arms, appears somewhat linear:
however, this formal flatness allowed Jacopo Tintoretto to provide for
its decoration. It is possible that stylistic simplicity and the
subordination of architecture to painting were deliberately sought by
the designer. This decoration has now been totally lost: the only
evidence of this apparatus are the engravings made by Antonio Maria
Zanetti, who in 1760 published a book depicting the fresco decorations
present on the facades of the palaces belonging to the Venetian
patricians. Among others, we recall subjects such as Adam and Eve, Cain
and Abel and Dusk and Dawn. In particular, the latter subjects were
inspired by the sculptures of Michelangelo Buonarroti, located in the
Medici chapels in Florence.
The palace has a particularly
animated internal plan, characterized by the presence of a colonnaded
atrium and a frescoed courtyard with figures of Ettore in various poses:
it is hypothesized that this is an intervention by Giambattista Zelotti.
The theory according to which the entire pictorial cycle would have been
designed by the architect in charge of the construction site, namely
Michele Sanmicheli, has also been hypothesized. However, it is clear
that the intention of the owners was to offer guests numerous allusions
to the model of the Roman domus.