Palazzo Venier-Manfrin is an architecture of Venice, located in the Cannaregio district overlooking the Cannaregio canal, to the left of Palazzo Savorgnan.
It derives from an ancient Priuli palace built in the first half of
the sixteenth century, the remains of which are still visible in some
parts of the rear facade.
Two centuries later the palace passed
to Federico Venier, husband of Elena Priuli, who in the years 1734-37
had it rebuilt according to a project by Andrea Tirali. Inherited by his
children, it was already bought in 1788 by Girolamo Manfrin, a
well-known tobacco entrepreneur. The new owner took care of the
remodeling of the building according to the new neoclassical tastes,
turning to the painters Giovanni Battista Mengardi and Giuseppe Zais and
the decorator David Rossi. In the following years he amassed a large
quantity of books, works of art and pieces of natural history, making it
a real museum.
Upon Manfrin's death in 1802, the complex passed
to his son Pietro and, in 1835, to his daughter Giovanna. In 1849 the
inheritance was divided between the two sons of the latter and the
palace ended up in Lina Plattis in Sardinia.
The building has a facade developed in length and three floors high.
The stylistic setting of the main facade, made of Istrian stone, is
vaguely neoclassical, which however anticipates rationalistic elements,
recognizable above all in the design of the two rows of squared openings
of the two noble floors, the first of which is equipped with
balustrades. In fact, these simple openings allow perfect illumination
of the interior spaces. String courses and an indented cornice on the
top cut the facade horizontally.
The interiors are embellished
with eighteenth-century paintings and objets d'art by Giuseppe Zais and
Giambattista Mingardi. Behind the building there is a garden which,
combined with the large park of Palazzo Savorgnan, has become a public
park.