Museo Correr

The Correr Museum occupies the Napoleonic Wing and part of the Procuratie Nuove on Piazza San Marco. Its collections grew from Teodoro Correr’s bequest in 1830 into a broad account of Venice’s art, civic institutions and history.

Why it matters

Teodoro Correr (1750–1830) left the city his art collection, his palazzo at San Zan Degolà and funds for their care. The collection opened to the public in 1836, becoming Venice’s first civic museum. After a move to the Fondaco dei Turchi in 1887, it took its present place on the square in 1922. The museum’s holdings connect private collecting with the city’s changing political and cultural life, from the fall of the Republic to the modern civic institution.

What to notice

The Neoclassical rooms centre on works by Antonio Canova. The picture gallery follows Venetian painting from its beginnings through the sixteenth century, with works by Lorenzo Veneziano, the Bellini, Carpaccio, Cosmè Tura, Antonello da Messina and Lorenzo Lotto. Carlo Scarpa designed the gallery’s installation. Other rooms present Renaissance bronzes, ivories and ceramics, alongside sections on the institutions, naval history and festivals of the Venetian Republic. The Royal Rooms preserve the ballroom, throne room and apartments used by the Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Savoys; Empress Elisabeth of Austria stayed in the apartments.

Context and history

The Napoleonic Wing was begun in 1806, when Venice formed part of the Kingdom of Italy under Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais. Its construction removed Sansovino’s church of San Geminiano and created a new ceremonial façade for the square. The residence was completed under Austrian rule and later served the Habsburg court and the kings of Italy. Its Neoclassical design forms a deliberate architectural counterpoint to the Doge’s Palace. Since the museum’s arrival in 1922, its collections have expanded beyond Correr’s original gift to include paintings, arms and material relating to the Risorgimento. Its library and photographic archive further document Venetian history.