Di storie e di arte

Three Centuries of Life at Palazzo Vendramin Grimani

Curatorship: Massimo Favilla, Ruggero Rugolo
Exhibit Design: Daniela Ferretti

Fondazione dell'Albero d'Oro presents, from April 12 to November 23, 2025, Di storie e di arte. Tre secoli di vita a Palazzo Vendramin Grimani (Of Stories and Art: Three Centuries of Life at Palazzo Vendramin Grimani), a temporary exhibition that tells, through the span of three centuries, the daily life of the noble Venetian families who owned Palazzo Vendramin Grimani in Venice.

The history of the building, now the headquarters of Fondazione dell'Albero d'Oro, is deeply intertwined with the stories of the families who inhabited it continuously until 1969. Located in the San Polo district and overlooking the Grand Canal, halfway between the Rialto Bridge and the Volta de Canal, the palace was rebuilt in the early 16th century in proto-Renaissance forms that we can still admire today, particularly on its façade. The Vendramin, Grimani Giustinian, and Marcello families left their mark over the centuries through a constant and ongoing layering, making the building a 'repository' of their collectors' passions and the shifting tastes of its owners.

The visit path, which unfolds on the first noble floor of the Palace, will allow visitors to get closer to the private and family life of its ancient inhabitants – foremost among them, the doge Pietro Grimani (1677-1752), an internationally renowned scholar – revealing their tastes, habits, pastimes, and interests that marked their existence.

The rooms, in fact, will not just house objects and decorative elements, but will themselves become stages in an evocative narrative aimed at guiding the visitor through the centuries, offering impressions of distant eras.

Thus, music, an essential element of Venetian culture, will find its place in a room dedicated to it, where period instruments, sheet music, and other objects will testify to the taste, writing, and musical practices of the Grimani Giustinian and Marcello families.

Special attention will also be given to childhood and play habits, with the intention of providing a delicate image of the lives of the little ones. The convivial dimension and the art of hosting will then be revealed through porcelains, glassware, and silverware, which tell the story of the table as a place of representation and social interaction.

Di storie e di arte. Three Centuries of Life at Palazzo Vendramin Grimani will also be enriched by a selection of videos and animations, intensifying the visitor's involvement by offering the possibility to encounter the "resurrected" protagonists of the palace's history, giving voice and virtual bodies to the characters who lived in these places. Thanks to this narrative, the exhibition invites the visitor to immerse themselves in the emotions, rituals, and rhythms of life in one of the palaces overlooking the Grand Canal.