Palazzo Cini Gallery, House museum and art gallery in San Vio district, Venice, Italy
The Palazzo Cini is an art museum housed in a 16th-century palace that occupies two floors and displays paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects from the 13th to 16th centuries. The rooms give the impression of a private art collection arranged in a historic residential building, with windows opening onto the Grand Canal.
An entrepreneur named Vittorio Cini acquired the palace in 1919 and transformed it into his residence, furnishing the rooms with his art collection. After his death, his daughter Yana donated the property to a foundation in 1984, which opened it to the public as a museum.
The collection reflects the taste of wealthy Venetian collectors for Tuscan and Ferrarese Renaissance art, featuring works by Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, and Botticelli. Walking through the rooms, you see how these paintings and sculptures were once part of a private home rather than a public institution.
The museum is located in a busy cultural quarter near the Grand Canal with good walking access, though Venice's bridges have steps. It is worth checking ahead to see what exhibitions are on, as the rooms are sometimes used for special events.
An oval dining room designed by architect Tommaso Buzzi in the 1950s displays a complete porcelain table service by Cozzi, showing how the family lived day-to-day. This room stands out as a snapshot of mid-20th-century domestic life within an older building.
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