How Fashion Is Playing a Role in Reviving One of Venice’s Biggest Architectural Jewels, the Ca d’Oro
Whether by boat or by foot on the Grand Canal, there’s one jewel in all its aging wonder that more than any other says, “Welcome to Venice.”
Ca d’Oro was built by architect Giovanni Bon and his son Bartolomeo for the Contarini family in 1442 and is a bastion of the late Gothic era. Recognizable for its delicate and ornate cornices and battlements and marble facade, at its pinnacle it was gilded with golden leaves, which gave it the name “golden house.” Over the years the building — known today as Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro, a national museum — had fallen into disrepair, its glow, as well as its masterpieces, dimmed by time.
More from WWD
The Most Exciting Art Exhibitions Coming to New York This Fall
How Kate Spade Alum Charlotte Macaulay Is Bringing the One Thing That Was Missing to Fine Jewelry
Last Glimpse of Summer: A Guide to Luxury Destinations in Europe
Now work is underway to restore the building to its former splendor. Its restoration has been spearheaded by Venetian Heritage, an international organization dedicated to preserving the city’s artistic treasures, and its director Toto Bergamo Rossi, who says that the full renovation of the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro museum is expected to be revealed in late 2026.
Pomellato and Venetian Heritage
The Milan-based jeweler Pomellato has been one of the main supporters of the restoration and in partnership with Venetian Heritage last year was the primary contributor of a lighting installation system for the building’s facade, which brought to life a new gilded, golden glow that stands out on the Grand Canal.
“This iconic building showcases the unparalleled craftsmanship and visual culture that Italy has gifted to the world. For me, the Ca’ d’Oro holds a special place in my heart, as it reminds me of the beauty and resilience of Venice, a city that has captivated me since childhood,” Pomellato chief executive officer Sabina Belli says.
Masterpieces Abound
On Sept. 4 and in tandem with the Venice Film Festival, Pomellato and Venetian Heritage will celebrate the conservation of some of Ca’ d’Oro’s most important masterpieces by producing five state-of-the-art display cases to ensure their long-term preservation. Among the pieces that will be housed in these new cases are the terracotta models by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in particular the terracotta models of the “Allegories of the Four Rivers,” the Rio de la Plata and the Nile, part of the famous fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona in Rome. Models by Stefano Maderno depicting the Labors of Hercules and works by Camillo Rusconi are also among the pieces preserved in the new state-of-the-art display cases.
After the Venice floods in 2019, Pomellato teamed with the Venetian Heritage Foundation to restore the monument dedicated to Francesco Morosini, who was named the city’s doge in 1688, a title bestowed on chiefs of state in the Italian city during the medieval and Renaissance periods. The Kering-owned jeweler also previously funded the restoration of the Epistle Ambo pulpit at the landmark St. Mark’s Basilica.
The vast renovation within the building will touch even the most technical details like the air conditioning and heating system and the plaster green walls, says Bergamo Rossi, a native Venetian who grew up on the same canal and started out as a restorer specialized in marble and stone sculptures. He has restored the sculptures of Venetian basilicas like San Marco and Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
Bergamo Rossi grew up with the Ca’ d’Oro as a cultural reference and a temple of global treasures like the San Sebastian by Mantegna and Tullio Lombardo’s Double Portrait. “It’s one of my favorite items… it’s a place I went to a thousand times as a young student and art restorer.”
Bergamo Rossi reflects on the life of Baron Giorgio Franchetti, who bought the palace in 1897. A Jewish Venetian and descendant of the Rothschild family, he had amassed an impressive collection as a museum not for his own residential use, and later donated it to the Italian State in 1916. “It was already very contemporary to do something like this at that time,” he says.
Fashion to the Rescue
Overall, Venetian Heritage raised 8.5 million euros for their restoration efforts of the building with supporters such as Peter Marino, who is president and chairman of the Venetian Heritage in New York; Luca Marzotto; Marchesa Giovanna Sacchetti, and architect Roger Thomas.
Venetian Heritage Italy president Marchesa Valentina Marini Clarelli Nasi adopted the restoration of the beautiful chapel that houses a masterpiece by Mantegna, while Marino, an avid collector of bronze Baroque sculptures, adopted a room dedicated to Renaissance bronze collections. Giorgio Armani adopted the restoration of some masterpieces of the museum’s collection.
Bergamo Rossi says that generous contributions by big fashion brands and conglomerates over time have replaced those of wealthy American patrons and Gilded Age heirs like Peggy Guggenheim who supported the city and its marvels when they immigrated from the U.S. to live among the canals of Venice.
“It’s easy for us to collaborate. They love beauty, they love the transmission of heritage,” he says, reflecting on the charity gala dinner Venetian Heritage cohosted with Dior in 2019 coinciding with the opening of the Biennale in Venice and dedicated to 18th-century Venetian artist Giambattista Tiepolo. The “Tiepolo Ball” marked the foundation’s 20th anniversary and was held at the 17th century Baroque Palazzo Labia in Venice, the same location where the legendary “Bal Oriental” organized by Charles de Beistegui was held on Sept. 3, 1951. For the 2019 occasion, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, he says, invested her own passion for the artisan wonders that surround the palace, opting for napkins made on the island of Burano and fabrics made by Fortuny, as well as glasses made in Murano.
Elsewhere in the city, Venetian Heritage also financed and curated the reinstallation of the Grimani collection of classical sculptures reassembled in its original setting after 400 years.
Fashion’s interest, he says, continues to help save Venice.
“It’s not all about giving a beautiful party to raise money. This year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Venetian Heritage and always in collaboration with Dior we were able to raise 1.6 million euros and for a small foundation like us, that’s a lot of money. In the U.S. and in England, raising funds is part of their tradition, but not in Italy,” he muses.
Giving Life to a New Venetian Jewel
To celebrate its most recent restoration project at Casa d’Oro, Pomellato created the Bernini Loupe high jewelry necklace, which features a rose gold pendant set with a rock crystal gem slightly veiled, “like the mist that often envelops Venice in autumn,” Pomellato says. The design also features a domed-shape cut to resemble a magnifying glass, which the firm says symbolizes an appreciation for beauty in all its forms. The gem is surrounded by diamonds, creating a play of light that echoes the luminous quality of Bernini’s models.
“The Bernini Loupe necklace is an invitation to pause and appreciate up close the beauty that surrounds us, just as Bernini’s models offer us a window into his creative genius,” Pomellato creative director Vincenzo Castaldo says.
Best of WWD
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
