Louis Vuitton Supports the Restoration of the Museum of the Ca’ D’Oro in Venice

Since 2010, Louis Vuitton has supported the Venetian Heritage Foundation in restoring important artworks including the 14th-century gilded silver altarpiece in the Church of San Salvador, and golden objects and precious stones which are part of the Church’s treasury. This work continues with a contribution to the renovation of the Giorgio Franchetti Gallery at the Ca’ d’Oro, the monumental late Gothic palace on the Grand Canal. Conceived by Marino Contarini in the 15th century, the original façade featured marble polychromy and gilded sculptures; hence its name, the House of Gold. 

The house returned to its original splendor during the twentieth century thanks to Baron Giorgio Franchetti, who bought it in 1894, restored it, and located and purchased the original sculptures and decorations that had been dispersed. With the soles of a pair of shoes strapped to his knees for protection, he spent entire days assembling the entrance hall mosaic which he himself had designed, drawing inspiration from those in Saint Mark’s Cathedral. He sourced the marble tesserae from the finest quarries in the world. His friend Gabriele D’Annunzio recalled having been there alongside Franchetti, “on my knees, like a worker, setting porphyry and other stones in the grout.”

The Ca’ D’Oro now houses a museum showcasing Franchetti’s art collection, donated to the Italian state in 1916, alongside paintings and sculptures from churches destroyed during the French and Austrian occupation.