Casino Venier Visite
The Casino Venier, used by Elena Priuli, wife of the Procurator Federico Venier, had a hole in the floor from which you could see who was at the door downstairs! The hole above the entrance of the Casino Venier. One of the best preserved spaces is the Casino Zane, now used as a concert hall by the Fondazione Bru. Photos Virginie V E N E Z I A 2008 Dans l'esprit de la cour du Roi Soleil, voici les quatre saisons, de la joie, du bonheur, et des coul.
Venice in the 18thcentury was a fashionable destination for nobles from all over Europe, and while they certainly enjoyed the beauty of the city, they enjoyed its licentious social life even more.
Besides the cafés, the theatres, and, of course, the Carnival celebrations, Venice became famous in the 17thand 18thcenturies for the many private spaces where exclusive gatherings were held: the casinos.
What’s a casino?
The word translates as “small house”, and refers to an apartment or a self-standing building smaller than the official palazzos of the noble families.
Another similar term is ridotto, from the Latin “reducere” meaning “to gather”, which clearly explains the primary purpose of these spaces: private retreats for exclusive parties.
Even though the first record of a ridotto dates to 1282, it’s in the 1600s and 1700s, the most decadent centuries of the Serenissima, that such spaces multiplied in Venice.
In 1797, the year of the end of the Venetian Republic, there were 136 of them!
Who owned casinos?
Many belonged to noblemen and were located in St. Mark’s Square, so that it was easy to take a break after the long working hours in the government offices of the Doge’s Palace.
It was quite common for noblewomen to have their private retreats as well.
The records mention the presence of two casinos along the same calle, one belonging to the nobleman Antonio Nani and the other to his wife Lucrezia: she had two servants in charge of inviting foreign gentlemen to the parties taking place every night!
Others were used by groups of friends like the “Casino delle Amazzoni”, the most prestigious club of noblewomen in town.
Renting a ridotto was, however, not a privilege reserved for the nobility: anyone could do it, and for lots of different reasons. There were therefore people whose job was to provide casinos for rent and take care of them: these people were very often barbers or women, such as a certain Paolina dei Casini (Paolina of the Casinos) who owned and managed 12 such spaces at the same time!
What happened in a casino?
This may be a problematic question as there was often a gap between what was supposed to happen and what actually happened within the frescoed walls of casinos.
Poetry and music were legal and common pastimes in many ridotti, like the one used by the club of the Filarmonici, where a concert was held at least once a week.
Literature and philosophy might have caused you trouble if revolutionary ideas were circulating among your circle of friends: in 1774, Caterina Dolfin Tron had to close her casino because the State Inquisitors found books by French philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau in her library.
Gambling was absolutely forbidden, yet, it was the most common activity during such parties. For this reason, in 1638 the Venetian government allowed gambling only in one specific casino: the one belonging to Marco Dandolo, near San Moisé. This did not stop illegal gambling but instead made it more evident to everyone that the ruling class did not respect any moral code. As a result, the Ridotto di Palazzo Dandolo was closed in 1774.
Another common use of these private spaces was for romantic encounters. The famous lover Giacomo Casanova described some of the places where he would have his private meetings: these were small, luxurious apartments equipped with everything a couple might need, from bathtubs and mirrors to erotic scenes on the wallpaper, and even… peepholes!
What does a casino look like?
While lavishly decorated inside, many were hard to spot from the outside: this way only those who were invited knew precisely where to go. Therefore, it was also necessary to control access into these spaces. The Casino Venier, used by Elena Priuli, wife of the Procurator Federico Venier, had a hole in the floor from which you could see who was at the door downstairs!
One of the best preserved spaces is the Casino Zane, now used as a concert hall by the Fondazione Bru.
As was the fashion of the 18thcentury, the walls and ceilings of the small rooms inside the casinos were covered with frescoes and elegant stucco works.
Because they were spaces dedicated to pleasure and amusement, unusual subjects can often be found among the decorations, such as exotic animals or feasting cherubs.
Due to their secret nature, not so much remains of the Venetian casinos, and the exact location of some of them remains uncertain, even though we know that they were mostly centered around Saint Mark’s Square.
Still, some of them are visible today: if you want to discover all the secrets of 18thcentury Venice, ask us!
Just as Venice possesses but a single piazza among dozens of campi, it has only one building correctly called a ‘palazzo’. The singularity is important: the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale), like the Piazza San Marco, was the locus of La Serenissima’s public identity and seat of her republican government. Unlike her rivals in Florence and Milan she had no ruling dynasties to dictate polity, by contrast developing a deep aversion to individual aggrandizement and over-concentrated power. While the person and palazzo of the Doge embodied their municipal identity, it was in their private houses that Venice’s mercantile oligarchs expressed their own family wealth and status.
These case (in Venetian parlance ca’) were built throughout the city. In the absence of primogeniture, many branches sprung from the two hundred-odd noble families, leading to several edifices of the same name – an obstacle for would-be visitors.
These houses were unlike any other domestic buildings elsewhere in the world: erected over wooden piles driven into the mud flats of the lagoon, they remained remarkably uniform over the centuries in their basic design, combining the functions of mercantile emporium (ground level) and magnificent residence (upper floors).
They were however built in a fantastic variety of styles: Veneto-Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo. Sometimes there is a touch of Islamic decoration. As new families bought their way into the aristocracy during the long period of the Republic’s economic and political decline, they had their residences refurbished in Rococo splendour by master artists such as Giambattista Tiepolo. Many of these palaces have survived the virtual extinction of the Venetian aristocracy and retain their original, if faded, glory.
Palaces for nobles will be considered in conjunction with those for the non-noble cittadino (wealthy merchant) class and the housing projects for ordinary Venetian popolani, which rise cheek by jowl in the dense urban fabric.
Some of the places visited are familiar and readily accessible to the public. Others are opened only by special arrangement with the owners, whether a charitable organisation, branch of local government or descendants of the original occupants. Some of these cannot be confirmed until nearer the time.
A private, after-hours visit to the Basilica di San Marco, the mosaic interior illuminated for your benefit, is a highlight of this tour. As is an opportunity to see up close ‘the most beautiful street in the world’, the Grand Canal, from that most Venetian of vantage-points, a gondola.
Day 1
Fly at c. 12.30pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water-taxi) and travel up the Grand Canal to the doors of the hotel. Luggage is transported separately by porters. Dinner this evening is in the privately owned 16th-century Palazzo Corner Gheltoff Alverà (by special arrangement).
Day 2
See the palazzi on the Grand Canal from the viewpoint of a gondola. The former Casino Venier is a uniquely Venetian establishment that was part private members’ bar, part literary salon, part brothel (by special arrangement). Designed by Longhena (c. 1667) and Giorgio Massari (c. 1751), the Ca’ Rezzonico is perhaps the most magnificent of Grand Canal palaces, and contains frescoes by Tiepolo; it is now a museum of 18th-century art. Visit the grand ballroom of late 17th-century Palazzo Zenobio (by special arrangement).
Day 3
Visit the Palazzo Ducale, supremely beautiful with its 14th-century pink and white revetment, late Renaissance gilded halls and paintings by Tintoretto and Veronese. The Palazzo Grimani at Santa Maria Formosa became in the mid-16th century the purpose-built site of the family collection of antiquities, which were then bequeathed to the Venetian Republic. There is an after-hours private visit to the Basilica di San Marco, an 11th-century Byzantine-style church enriched over the centuries with mosaics, sculpture and various precious objects.
Day 4
With its elegant tracery and abundant ornamentation, the Ca’ d’Oro, also on the Grand Canal, is the most gorgeous of Venetian Gothic palaces; it now houses the Galleria Franchetti. The 13th-century Fondaco dei Turchi is a unique survival from the era; today it is the natural history museum. In the afternoon visit a privately owned palace, the Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo-Polignac (by special arrangement).
Day 5
Visit the privately owned 17th-century Palazzo Albrizzi which has some of the finest stucco decoration in Venice (by special arrangement). Travel by motoscafo to Venice airport. Fly to London Gatwick, arriving c. 6.15pm.
The tour is dependent on the kindness of many individuals and organisations, some of whom are reluctant to make arrangements far in advance, so the order of visits outlined above may change and there may be substitutions for some palaces mentioned.
Dr Michael Douglas-Scott
Dr Michael Douglas-Scott mixes scholarship with accessible discourse, wit with reasoned opinion, and is highly sought-after as an art history lecturer. He has lectured for New York University (London campus) and is an Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London, specialising primarily in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. He studied at the Courtauld and Birkbeck College and lived in Rome for several years. He has written articles for Arte Veneta, Burlington Magazine and the Journal of the Warburg & Courtauld Institutes.
Price, per person
Two sharing: £2,610 or £2,480 without flights. Single occupancy £2,960 or £2,830 without flights.
By train: London – Paris – Turin – Milan – Venice: c. 13 hours or London – Paris – Venice (overnight): c. 17 hours. Contact us for more information.
Includes
Flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (Airbus 320); a vaporetto (water-bus) pass; travel between the hotel and Venice Airport by water-taxi; luggage porterage between the hotel and Venice airport; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts; 1 lunch and 2 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer, tour manager and local guide.
Casino Venier Visite Paris
Accommodation
Hotel Palazzo Sant’Angelo, Venice: a 4-star hotel in an excellent location on the Grand Canal near Campo Sant’Angelo and the Rialto Bridge.
How strenuous?
The nature of Venice means that the city is more often than not traversed on foot. Although part of her charm, there is a lot of walking along the flat and up and down bridges; standing around in museums and palaces is also unavoidable. The tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Fitness is essential.
Group size
Between 8 and 18 participants.
Travel advice
Before booking, please refer to theFCDO websiteto ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
'A really interesting selection of palazzi…Some very special features (such as the private out-of-hours tour of San Marco and the visits to privately owned palazzi) on which it is hard to put a price.'
'After an initial look in the lengthy domed entrance area of St Mark's Basilica, we were asked to sit in the nave. The lights were extinguished and after a minute or so, began to gradually come on, one by one, first quite faint and then slowly increasing in intensity until we were all totally swathed in gold.'
'The itinerary was splendid and access to otherwise closed venues were an added plus.'
Casino Venier Visite En
'This was our first trip and will not be our last.'
Casino Vernier Visite En
'The three private palazzos we visited were fascinating, and the hosts were interesting people in their own right who talked fascinatingly about their homes and histories.'
'The content of our tour was priceless, especially the visits to private palazzos and the private tour of St Marks, which was unforgettable.'