Ca’d’Oro Red Murano glass Table lamp

The famous Ca’ d’Oro, a patrician residence of extraordinary beauty, has for centuries enchanted all who gaze upon it. An emblem of Venice itself, it has become one of the city’s most iconic and recognizable symbols.

A supreme example of late Gothic “flamboyant” style, the Ca’ d’Oro stands with elegance on the left bank of the Grand Canal, its sumptuous and asymmetrical façade a masterpiece of harmony and decorative imagination.

Its history is long and complex: it has known the splendors of glory and the decline of neglect, suffering plundering and reckless interventions, until it was finally reborn thanks to the love and dedication of a man who devoted years of care and effort to its restoration.

The building was commissioned by Marino Contarini, a member of a wealthy dogal family. In the early fifteenth century he married the young heiress Soramador Zeno, who brought as her dowry several properties in the Santa Sofia area, including Ca’ Zeno, overlooking the Grand Canal.

The couple took residence there, but following a family dispute, Contarini was forced to buy back the property. After the death of his wife, as if to sever every tie with the past, he decided to demolish the old house and build a new one.

According to another hypothesis, however, the original palace was not demolished but rather incorporated into the new construction: a theory which, though unconfirmed, continues to fascinate scholars and enthusiasts alike. The doubt remains, like a timeless enigma preserved within the golden stones of the Ca’ d’Oro.