Page 111 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

SAN POL O AND SANT A CROCE  109

t Museo di Storia in 1709 by Domenico Rossi. i Ca’ Pesaro
Naturale Works by Piazzetta, Tiepolo and Canal Grande, Santa Croce 2076.
other 18th-century artists adorn
Canal Grande, Santa Croce 1730. Map 2 the chancel. Near the second altar Map 2 F5. 4 San Stae. Galleria d’Arte
E4. Tel 041 275 02 06. 4 San Stae. on the left is the bust of Antonio Moderna & Museo Orientale: Tel 041
Open Nov–May: 9am–5pm Tue–Fri, Foscarini, executed for treason in 72 11 27. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun
10am–6pm Sat & Sun; Jun–Oct: 10am– 1622 but pardoned the next year. (Nov–Mar: to 5pm); ticket office closes
6pm Tue–Sun. & ∑ msn.visitmuve.it 1 hour earlier. Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 25
Dec. ^ - = 7 8 & combined
The Fondaco dei Turchi, which ticket. ∑ capesaro.visitmuve.it
houses Venice’s Natural History
Museum has a chequered It took 58 years to complete
history. In the 13th century it this magnificent Baroque
was one of the largest palazzi on palace. Built for the Pesaro
the Grand Canal. In 1381 it was family, it was the masterpiece
bought by the state for the Dukes of Baldassare Longhena, who
of Ferrara and its lavish rooms worked on it until his death in
were used for banquets and state 1682. Antonio Gaspari then
functions. In 1621 the Turks set took over Longhena’s design,
up a warehouse (fondaco), and eventually completing the
the portico was used for loading structure in 1710.
merchandise. As commerce with In the 19th century the
the Orient declined further, the Duchess of Bevilacqua La Masa
structure fell into disrepair until, One of the finely furnished rooms of bequeathed the palace to the
roused by Ruskin’s passionate Palazzo Mocenigo city for exhibiting the works of
interest, the Austrians began unestablished Venetian artists.
restoration work in the 1850s. u Palazzo The Galleria d’Arte Moderna
Since 1923 the Fondaco has Mocenigo was founded in 1897. Today this
housed the Natural History features a permanent exhibition
Museum (Museo di Storia Salizzada San Stae, Santa Croce 1992. of work by artists such as
Naturale). There is a collection of Map 2 F5. Tel 041 72 17 98. 4 San Bonnard, Matisse, Miró, Klee,
stuffed animals, crustacea and Stae. Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun Klimt and Kandinsky, in addition
dinosaur fossils and a section on (Nov–Mar: to 4pm). Closed 1 Jan, to works by Italian artists of the
1 May, 25 Dec. & ^ =
lagoon life. Prize exhibits include ∑ mocenigo.visitmuve.it 19th and 20th centuries.
a skeleton of an Ouranosaurus The Museo Orientale has
nigeriensis, 7 m (23 ft) long and One of the oldest Venetian an idiosyncratic collection of
3.6 m (12 ft) tall, and a fossil of families, the Mocenigos Chinese and Japanese artifacts
a Sarcosuchus imperator – an produced seven doges. There collected by the Count of Bardi
ancestor of the crocodile. were various branches of the during his 19th-century travels.
family, one of which resided
in this hand some 17th-
century mansion. Count
Alvise Nicolò Mocenigo, the
last of this particular branch,
died in 1954, bequeathing
the palace to the Comune di
Venezia (city authorities).
The entrance façade is
unremarkable, but the interior
Ouranosaurus is elegantly furnished and gives
skeleton on display you a rare opportunity of seeing
in the museum inside a palazzo preserved more
or less as it was in the 18th
century. The frescoed ceilings and
y San Stae other works of art are celebrations
of the family’s achievements.
Campo San Stae, Santa Croce.
Map 2 F4. Tel 041 275 04 62. 4 San The illustrious Mocenigos are
Stae. Open 1:45–4pm Mon, 10am– portrayed in a frieze around
5pm Tue–Sat. Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. the portego on the first floor.
& 9 ^ The Museo del Tessuto e del
Costume inside the house
Restored in 1977–8 by the Pro contains antique fabrics and
Venezia Foundation, San Stae (or exquisitely made costumes.
Sant’Eustachio) has a spick-and- It also has five rooms dedicated Gustav Klimt’s Salome, Gallery of Modern
span sculpted façade. It was built to the history of perfumes. Art, Ca’ Pesaro

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