Palazzo Grimani

For €15, a combined ticket includes admission to both the palace and Ca' d'Oro.

Nicknamed the 'Golden House', this exquisite Gothic palace offers beautiful views of the Grand Canal from its upper loggia and houses a thoughtfully curated art collection.

Considering that admission to Palazzo Grimani alone costs €14, the combined ticket is excellent value: for just €1 more, it also includes entry to Ca d'Oro, where admission normally costs €8. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance to either site.

Still undecided whether to go?

Explore the entire Palazzo Grimani in a virtual tour on Italyart.

Or explore the Tribuna room in a 360° experience.

The term 'grotesque' first appears in the 15th century from the Italian 'grottesca', meaning 'of a cave'.

It was used to describe an extravagant style of ancient Roman decorative art discovered on the walls of underground rooms and corridors in the ruins of Rome, which were then called 'le Grotte' ('the caves'). It was later discovered that these spaces were in fact parts of the Domus Aurea, the unfinished palace complex begun by Emperor Nero.

Grotesques combine distorted, fantastical, and often unsettling forms: a mix of human, animal, and ornamental motifs that can feel both playful and strange.

In Venice, this type of decoration is relatively rare.

It typically appears in the form of sculpted heads adorning the facades of several palaces. One of the most recognisable examples is the Mascaron above the small door at the base of the bell tower of Santa Maria Formosa.

In interior decoration, Palazzo Grimani stands out above all others. This is because Patriarch Giovanni Grimani modelled his residence on ancient Roman villas, resulting in numerous grotesque decorations inspired by this tradition.

You can also find examples elsewhere in the city, such as the restored ceiling of the Brustolon Room at Ca' Rezzonico.