I think this look like a great little museum. I Havn't seen any posts other than using it as a landmark to find something out, so how is it?

RR

I love the Ca Rezzonico, but it's a fairly specialized place. All the art worth seeing is from the eighteenth century. If you go, do not miss the small rooms with the Tiepolo frescoes from Zianigo. There's also furniture, a bedroom and a pharmacy, all from more or less the same period. The Egidio Martini collection on the top floor is completely missable.

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was going to. The 18th century isn't my favourite period in art, and I've never particularly gone for Tiepolo's chubby putti sitting on puffy clouds.

But seen within the context of an 18th-century palazzo, with plenty of lavish C18 furniture all around, it all fits together (predictably!) rather better than it does stripped of its context in a gallery.

Plenty of good art which doesn't feature putti & clouds. Some lovely engravings by Tiepolo father & son: a sort of private relaxation after the bombastic big stuff. And some really nice portraits: the opera singer Faustina Bordoni Hasse (a pastel by Rosalba Carriera); Mrs Tiepolo (a sister of the Guardis) painted by one of her sons.

Recommended! You've probably already found the official website: here it is.

Jonathan

I just thought seeing the whole thing put together with furniture etc. would be great RR

I thought Ca'Rezzonico was an awesome place to visit. Definitely not to be missed.

Sandy

Yes, seeing the whole thing put together with furniture, not to mention ceiling frescoes, draperies, and views of the Grand Canal and of the neighborhood to the south is great! It really gives you a sense of what living in a palazzo in Venice was like in the 18th century. And for a 19th century highlight, you are in a place once inhabited by Robert Browning and his son.

A wonderful experience if it is available for your dates is to attend a concert of 18th century music in the ballroom of Ca'Rezzonico. Total immersion!

Along with the Ca' Pesaro it's one of the last palaces built along the Grand Canal; certainly one of the most opulent, and stupendously renovated. There's nothing "little" about it, though...probably 2.5 to 3 hours (if not more) to tour the entire structure and all its holdings.

One of my favorite parts is the upper floors with a perfectly-preserved kitchen and alimentari-pantry. There's often a more contemporary exhibit of some sort in the mansarda if you don't give out before then.

Even if you don't tour the museum, stroll the expansive atrium and visit the unpainted gondola with the felze still attached.

For a more intimate ex-habitation alternative, I love the Querini-Stampalia (in Campo Santa Maria Formosa). The collection is varied, from a Bellini family portrait to Pietro Longhi. It incorporates a gorgeous civic library along with an immaculate 20th-century Carlo Scarpa renovation downstairs (along with a garden and cafe), the contrast is marvelous. One of my favorite rooms in the Querini is that of the Gabriel Bella paintings...I call him not a a Venetian Master but a Master Chronicler: he paints scenes of all those stories your guides will recount (bull fights in San Polo, gatherings of the Maggior Consiglio, skating on frozen canals, matches in the tennis court (once located Calle della Racheta, naturally), gambling away at the Ridotto, and more...lots of fun. Like Torcello, I use visiting friends as an excuse to stop there by yet again.

(I have a friend, Lucia, who works there; if you speak a little Italian -- she speaks a little English -- she'll be happy to take you around. Just tell her I told you to look her up!)

So many options...

I add my votes for both Ca' Rezzonico and Querini-Stampalia. At the latter, as well as the very enoyable art which Venexianan mentioned, we were also very struck by a lovely pair of portraits by Palma Il Vecchio.

Venexianan mentioned the architect Carlo Scarpa. We first encountered his work at the Tomba Brion ... a remarkably moving piece of modern architecture in a little village cemetery (San Vito d'Altivole). To anyone visiting the nearby Villa Maser (by Palladio) we would strongly recommend the short detour to this tomb. The Canova museum at Possagno (described by one of our guide books as one of the great small museums of the world) is also fairly near and includes an extension by Scarpa, although we didn't find that as impressive as the sculpture.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Rainey:
I think this look like a great little museum. I Havn't seen any posts other than using it as a landmark to find something out, so how is it?

RR

I love Ca Rezzonico, but it is hardly a little museum. It is big enough that in winter we did not have time to get through hte whole place in one afternoon beause the early darkness cmbined with less than brilliant indoor lighting made it to hard to see everything. There may be better places to see Venetian art, but you also get to see rooms full of furniture arranged as they were in 18th Century Venice. There is also an 18th century pharmacy which sadly was not open on the day we were there. It is one of the places we always recommend to visitors. Robert Browning and his son, Pen, owned it and Robert Browning may have died there.
For a really small but interesting museum try the Casa di Carlo Goldoni which is right next to the calle leading to the Palazzo Tiepoletto. Ruth

My husband and I loved our visit in 2005. There are two of the most fantastic Murano glass chandeliers! Awesomely, over-the-top beautiful!!