Art and Architecture of Venice

The vision and patronage of the Cornaro family
provides a window into the fascinating art and architecture
of the Most Serene Republic.

The Cornaro Riviera

Eight palaces of the mighty Cornaro family line the Grand Canal in the S. Marco sestiere.

For more than 1,000 years the Cornaro family commissioned the artists and architects of Venice to create palaces, chapels and church art, villas, paintings and theaters. Its male lines are extinct now in the Veneto, but the family found immortality in the art with which it endowed posterity.

The art they commissioned and acquired opens a window to the long history and rich artistic fabric of La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic.

To understand Venice, visit the legacy of the Cornaros:

Their palaces . . . Their chapels and church art . . . Their villas and castles . . . Their paintings . . . Their theaters . . .

"Who can be found who does not know that the House of Cornaro is the greatest of the world? The House of Cornaro, is it not everywhere?" (Il Ruzante, 1521)