Palazzo Labia
Palazzo Labia
Built in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Palazzo Labia was one of the last great palaces to be erected in Venice.
The Labia family, who were Catalan in origin, bought their way into the Venetian nobility in 1646 for the princely sum of 300,000 ducats. The family was viewed by the Venetian aristocracy as arriviste and it has been suggested that they tried to compensate for their lack of social pedigree by an ostentatious display of wealth.
An example of this might be the occasion when a feast was held in the palace at the end of which the guests were invited to throw the golden dishes, on which they had been served, into the canal. Their host is said to have punned "L'abia, or non l'abia, sarò sempre Labia." (Whether I have them or not, I will still be Labia). The next day the dishes were duly fished out of the canal, where they had been caught in a hidden net.
The Palazzo Labia was built in two stages, the first of which was completed in 1663. Between 1730 and 1740 the palace was extended towards the north, almost doubling its size. The Palazzo Labia boasts three façades, two facing the water and one facing the land (Campo San Geremia). The palace's double height and excessively ornate ballroom is frescoed with paintings, the work of Giambattista Tiepolo and Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna (1743-50).
The Labia family, who were Catalan in origin, bought their way into the Venetian nobility in 1646 for the princely sum of 300,000 ducats. The family was viewed by the Venetian aristocracy as arriviste and it has been suggested that they tried to compensate for their lack of social pedigree by an ostentatious display of wealth.
An example of this might be the occasion when a feast was held in the palace at the end of which the guests were invited to throw the golden dishes, on which they had been served, into the canal. Their host is said to have punned "L'abia, or non l'abia, sarò sempre Labia." (Whether I have them or not, I will still be Labia). The next day the dishes were duly fished out of the canal, where they had been caught in a hidden net.
The Palazzo Labia was built in two stages, the first of which was completed in 1663. Between 1730 and 1740 the palace was extended towards the north, almost doubling its size. The Palazzo Labia boasts three façades, two facing the water and one facing the land (Campo San Geremia). The palace's double height and excessively ornate ballroom is frescoed with paintings, the work of Giambattista Tiepolo and Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna (1743-50).
Palazzo Labia
Ballroom, Palazzo Labia