Palazzo Venier dei Leoni
by BOSCHETTI, Lorenzo, Photo
This palace, located in the parish of San Vio on the Grand Canal, was designed for Nicolò Venier, procurator of San Marco and his brother. The design, showing a mixture of neo-Palladianism and Baroque forms in the tradition of Baldassare Longhena, is bequeathed through engravings by Giorgio Fossati and a large wooden model, today in the Correr museum. Due to financial difficulties, only part of the ground floor was built.
The name of the building is derived from the lions that the Venier supposedly had held in the garden. In 1947, the palace fragment was acquired by Peggy Guggenheim who established her collection in the building.