For the century between 1868 and 1968, the prestigious noble residence of the Contarini-Ferro-Manolesso and the Flangini-Fini families, now the seat of the Regional Council of Veneto, was the renowned Grand Hotel Venezia. Through photos, films, objects and period documents, this exhibition, curated by Franca Lugato, tells the story of an engaging chapter of Venice’s history.
Civilian power, especially modern one, always had a penchant for embellishing its authority with memorable historical facts and ancient splendour. Palazzo Ferro Fini is the seat of the regional assembly of the local government authority in Venetia, and it sits right in the most noble stretch of the Grand Canal. The Palazzo is, in fact, two adjacent buildings later joined.
You can tell apart the sixteenth-century part from the smaller, late Medieval one. Between 1868 and 1968, they housed one of the
most prestigious hotels in town, itself an icon of high hôtellerie in its Golden Age: the Grand Hotel. An exhibition, curated by Franca Lugato, will show us all there is to know. Grand Hotel Venezia: cento anni, da albergo da sogno a sede istituzionale will be open from May 15 to November 30. It is a collection of pictures, film, manufacts, and documents that investigate an interesting insight on a city that pioneered luxury tourism.
The Grand Hotel has been a universal benchmark for the hospitality standards; guests included royalty, heads of state, and the show business elite. To name a few: Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, King of Italy Victor Emmanuel, Winston Churchill, British War Secretary Duff Cooper, the Dukes of Kent, Princess Ann of Denmark. A large section of the exhibition focuses on the Gotha of glamour, at a time when the most important names in film and European aristocrats met at the Grand Hotel Venezia for the Art Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, itself a prime pole of attraction for VIPs since the 1930s.
Portraits of men of culture, from Manet to Pirandello, movie stars like Cary Grant and Tyrone Power, and celebrated couple Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini live again in the halls and rooms that once saw them enjoy the high life there.
Roberto Valente, Secretary-General of the local authority as sembly, thus commented on the opening of the exhibition: “We are proud to open our doors to all who love Venice to share a testimony of our city’s vitality and ability to always be ahead of the time.”
