Palazzina Canonica

A small two-storey palace in brick and cream plaster with arched windows, a loggia with red curtains and a carved white stone portal — The front of the Palazzina Canonica, with its loggia and carved portal. Photo: Stefano Vigolo, 2014.

Venice, Castello · 1911 · Pietro Canonica

Palazzina Canonica — a Sculptor’s Museum that Became a Marine Science Institute

A sculptor built it as a museum for his own work. Twenty years later he gave it away, and it became the house of the sea sciences in Venice.

At a glance

The Palazzina Canonica stands on the Riva dei Sette Martiri in Castello, near the gardens of the Biennale. It was built in 1911 as a museum by the sculptor Pietro Canonica, who taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. In 1932 he gave it to the National Research Council. It then housed the Institute of Marine Biology and, until 2013, the Institute of Marine Sciences; today it holds the Archive of Adriatic Studies.

Key facts

Built: 1911, as a museum, by the sculptor Pietro Canonica (Moncalieri 1869 – Rome 1959)
Given: in 1932 to the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Institutes: the Institute of Marine Biology, then the Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) until 2013
Today: the Archive of Adriatic Studies
Address: Castello 1364/A, Riva dei Sette Martiri
GPS: 45.43067, 12.35422 · Open in Google Maps

History

Pietro Canonica, born in Moncalieri in 1869, held the chair of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and later in Rome, and was made a senator for life in 1950 for his artistic merit. In 1911 he built this small palace on the Riva as a museum. In 1932 he donated it to the National Research Council.

From then on the building belonged to science. It was the seat of the Institute of Marine Biology and later of the Institute of Marine Sciences, which left in 2013; it now keeps the Archive of Adriatic Studies. Conoscere Venezia describes the carvings of the entrance portal as tools of the artist’s trade and Masonic symbols.

What you see

A compact front in brick and cream plaster, with a first-floor loggia of three arches and a carved white stone portal. Set into the walls are reliefs: a winged lion of Saint Mark, and terracotta roundels, one of them with a lion rampant on a shield against a sunburst. Conoscere Venezia notes geometric decoration and inlays of stone and lead with floral motifs on the balcony.

Nearby

The Arco Lando — the last piece of Sant’Antonio di Castello, in the gardens nearby
Palazzo Caboto — the Cabots’ corner, at the other end of the Riva dei Sette Martiri

Gallery

A white stone relief of the winged lion of Saint Mark set into a brick wall between two barred windows — A winged lion of Saint Mark set into the brick wall. Photo: Stefano Vigolo, 2014.

A round terracotta relief with a shield bearing a rampant lion against radiating rays, set in a brick wall — A terracotta roundel with a lion rampant on a shield against a sunburst. Photo: Stefano Vigolo, 2014.

A plain rectangular marble tablet framed in white stone set into a red brick wall, the edge of a relief above — A marble tablet, left blank, set into the brick front under one of the reliefs. Photo: Stefano Vigolo, 2014.

Sources

Conoscere Venezia, Le patere della Palazzina Canonica: the 1911 museum, Pietro Canonica, the 1932 donation, the institutes, the portal and balcony decoration
La Biennale di Venezia, Palazzina Canonica del CNR ISMAR: the 1911 construction as a museum, the 1932 donation, the address

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Travel tips from CHO

Go on the first Sunday of the month

State museums, archaeological parks and monuments across Italy open free of charge on the first Sunday of every month. It covers state-run sites only — civic and private museums set their own prices — and there is nothing to claim: you simply walk in.

The ministry’s free days →

In September, the doors that are usually shut open

For one long weekend every September, some fifty European countries run the European Heritage Days together: palaces, workshops, archives and private houses that are closed the rest of the year let visitors in, almost always for nothing. Italy sets its own dates, and they are published a few weeks ahead.

Dates, country by country →

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Palazzina Canonica — a Sculptor’s Museum that Became a Marine Science Institute, Venice