Palazzo Barbaro - Venice

Palazzo Barbaro is located on S. Marco in Venice, Italy.  Formerly it was two separate structures, one, a Venetian Gothic style built in 1425, the other, a Baroque style built in 1694.  The first structure was purchased by Zaccaria Barbaro in 1465.  In the 1500's the Barbaro family was allowed to build atop the second structure, formally uniting the two buildings into one grand palace.  The Bembo's owned the property until the mid-1800's when the family line died out.  From that time on it fell into several hands.  Most notably the palazzo came into the possession of Daniel Sargent Curtis, an American banker, who rented the older portion in 1881, then purchased it in 1885, restoring the structure and turning it into a social hub.  His relative, artist John Singer Sargent painted the Curtis family here, in 1898.  Poet Robert Browning gave his last public reading here in 1889, just a month before his death.  Author Henry James finished writing the Aspern Papers here in 1888 and the desk that he used is still on display in the palace.  Art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner rented the palace during intervals in the 1890's.  Daniel Curtis lived at the Palazzo Barbaro until his death in 1908.  His family stills owns the structure.  

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