The Ca'Rezzonico Museum of the 18th Century Venice opened its gates to the public no sooner than 1936, in the namesake palazzo which faces the famed Grand Canal of Venice. Besides the fact that the building in itself is one of the finest architectural jewels of Venice, the merits of which reside in both the historical background and in the architectural spectacle it provides, the collections it shelters are as rewarding as it gets, at least as far as visitors interested in the life of the 18th century Venetian aristocracy are concerned.
Thus, the said collections consist of scattered works of arts, such as paintings by Giandomenico Tiepolo, Francesco Guardi, and Pietro Longhi, as well as of applied and decorative art items: furniture, tapestries, and Murano glassware. The museum patrimony is divided into several exhibition spaces, the most interesting to explore being the Ballroom, the Throne Room (the highlights of which refer to the lushly decorated ceiling, to a gilt chair – from where the name of the room derives – and to a heavily ornate gilt picture frame), and the Chinese Room.
An interesting observation is the miscellaneous collections showcased by the Ca' Rezzonico Museum were gathered as a result of the efforts of the local authorities to salvage the huge patrimony of the numerous decaying palaces of Venice, as well as a result of the fact a consistent part of the collections meant to be put on display at the Correr Museum seemed to be left out by reason of lack of exhibition space. Despite the heterogeneous character of the museum pieces and of their sources, the Ca'Rezzonico Museum offers a rather coherent insight into the thematic field it tries to explore.
The Museum Pass allows visitors to visit the Ca'Rezzonico Museum of the 18th Century Venice with consistent discounts, just as it is the case with all the other museums and edifices managed by MUVE (this one too opening its gates under the patronage of Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia).