The House of Gold...then and now

The Palazzo Santa Sofia was built between 1428-1430 for the Contarini family by father and son Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon.  It must have been astonishing in its day with its lavish gilt facade and painted polychrome decorations by French painter Zuan di Franza (hence its popular name, Ca D'Oro).  In addition to the gilt and paint, the Istrian stone was touched up with white lead and oil to resemble marble, and the red Verona marble was oiled and varnished to emphasise its colour.

Ca' D'Oro changed hands several times after the Fall of the Republic in 1797.  During the period 1845-50, architect Giovanni Battista Meduna made dramatic alterations to the building for the dancer Maria Taglioni.  These 'renovations' included the removal of the interior staircase and balconies. 

When John Ruskins saw Madame Taglioni's works he lamented: "I saw the beautiful slabs of red marble...dashed to pieces when I was last in Venice.  Its glorious interior staircase, by far the most interesting Gothic monument of the kind in Venice, had been carried away, piece by piece, and sold for waste marble...".

In 1894, Ca D'Oro was acquired and restored by Baron Giorgio Franchetti.  He later bequeathed it to the State.  Now a museum, Ca D'Oro still houses Baron Franchetti's collection.

Here is Carlo Naya's photograph of Ca D'Oro:

And here is an image of today's pink and white facade (image from WikiCommons):

What I'm reading: A treasure at the library

In my quest to learn more about Venice-based 19^th century photographer, Carlo Naya, I went in search of some of his historic books at my local library.  I was overwhelmed and delighted to find a copy of ‘Venezia’ containing 38 photos, mounted on sheets, of Venetian views printed during the 1880s. 

The photographs are obviously made for the tourist market.  Most of the sheets are embossed with the attribution, Naya fotografo Venezia and captions describing the image are printed on the back of the sheets in English, French and German. 

The librarian kindly let me photograph the images...I only had my Iphone with me, and I didn't want to use the flash on works on paper, but the resulting photographs are legible.  I have spent an absorbing Sunday afternoon studying the images.  

Here is a view of the Rialto bridge, together with two more detailed close ups of the photograph.  On the reverse of the photograph, there is a handwritten inscription.

19th century view photography

During the 19^th century, greater ease of travel meant that tourists were arriving in Venice in increasing numbers.  They were eager to take away souvenirs of their journeys to show friends and family at home, and to remember their travel experiences.  Since the birth of photography around 1840, a tradition of ‘view’ photographs of European scenes developed, concentrating on scenic landscapes and famous architectural sites. 

Carlo Naya

Photographer Carlo Naya owned one of the most successful photographic businesses in Venice, specializing in a large stock of negatives showing the city’s buildings, canals, monuments and canals.  His shop in Piazza San Marco was one of two major photographic firms in Venice (the other was owned by Carlo Ponti, Naya’s former employer).

I first became aware of Carlo Naya when the Historic Houses Trust in Sydney presented an exhibition in 1996 at the Museum of Sydney entitled Views of Abroad.  The exhibition showcased photographic images from the collection of Rouse Hill House (founded 1813), and the Rouse family’s extensive collection of photographs acquired during their European tours undertaken in 1868-69, 1874-76 and 1878-88, including a series of exquisite prints by Carlo Naya. 

Some of Naya’s most famous images of Venice including the Basilica di San Marco (circa 1876) and View of the Piazetta from a gondola (circa 1876) were included in the exhibition.

The Historic Houses Trust’s picture collection also contains a series of 32 mechanically coloured photographs of European cities, monuments and buildings which were pasted into an album by members of the Rouse family.  The collection includes several views of Venice including:

A view down the Grand Canal to the Salute (dated around 1900)

A view of St Mark's square, clock tower and basilica (dated around 1900)

A magnificent view from the Campanile over to the Salute and surrounding lagoon

A view of the St Mark's campanile, the Doge's Palace and Biblioteca Marciana from the Grand Canal