Oriental Art Museum of Venice

The Oriental Art Museum of Venice is located inside Ca 'Pesaro in the Santa Croce district, near Campo San Stae.

Since December 2014, the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities has been managing it through the Veneto Museum Complex, which in December 2019 became the Regional Directorate for Museums.

The Museum of Oriental Art in Venice is one of the largest collections of Japanese art from the Edo period (1603-1868) in Europe.

It has been located on the third floor of Ca 'Pesaro since 1928 due to an agreement between the State, owner of the collection, and the Municipality of Venice, owner of the property.

The collection is due to Prince Henry of Bourbon, Count of Bardi. From 1887 to 1889, during a long "trip around the world" with his wife, Adelgonda di Braganza and a small following, he visited Indonesia, South East Asia, China and about nine months in Japan, purchasing over thirty thousand works.

On his return to Venice, Enrico di Borbone arranged the collection on the second floor of Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, which he occupied mainly in the winter months.

Upon his death in 1905, the collection passed into the hands of the Viennese firm Trau which began its sale until the outbreak of the First World War, which led to the seizure of the assets of the Austrian company.

At the end of the conflict, the assets were recognized to the Italian government as war damage reparation. In 1925 the State and the Municipality signed an agreement to arrange the collection in Ca 'Pesaro.

Eugenio (Nino) Barbantini had the difficult task of setting up the new museum of oriental art in a historic Venetian residence with stuccoes and frescoes. In three years Barbantini provided for the transfer of the collection from Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, for the adaptation of the premises and the setting up of the museum of which he was director until 1950. On May 3, 1928 the museum was inaugurated: exhibition of Japanese art from the Edo period (1603-1868) with a Chinese and an Indonesian section.

In 2017, work began on the relocation of the museum to the former church of San Gregorio.

Map: Oriental Art Museum of Venice