A Venetian Palazzo painted by Monet is for sale
Palazzo Dario is located on the most prestigious part of the Grand Canal stretching from the Accademia Bridge to the Salute Church and the Bacino di San Marco.
At the end of the 15th century the palace was remodelled by Pietro Lombardo for the patrician Giovanni Dario, Secretary to the Venetian Senate, diplomat, and merchant, who managed to negotiate a very convenient peace agreement with the Ottomans (Turks). For these tasks the Serenissima had given Dario a large sum of money as a reward, and he commissioned a house to be built on a pre-existing gothic palace.
In 1494, the palace passed to Dario's daughter, and it was decorated with precious fabrics and carpets and refurbished during the time by its owners.
The English art critic John Ruskin, great friend of one of the previous owners, was particularly entranced with and wrote about the palace's Gothic marble-encrusted oculi. The palace belonged also to a Countess who was pleased to surround herself with French and Venetian writers, one of whom — Henri de Régnier.
Claude Monet was reluctant to visit and paint Venice due to the proliferation of images of the city on the art market. When he was finally persuaded to travel there in 1908, however, he found himself inspired by the colors and atmosphere. Although he still worried about producing only trite “souvenir” images of the city, his handling of paint and color here shows his unique perspective on the well-known Palazzo Dario: he depicted the square’s sturdy marble buildings in the same way as the water, subtly dissolving the forms as if they are floating in the Venetian haze.
Main Image: Claude Monet, Palazzo Dario Collection Art Institute Chicago