Ca' Pesaro at a glance
Location: Fondamenta de Ca' Pesaro, Santa Croce sestiere, Venice | Architect: Baldassarre Longhena (1659-1710) | Entry: €10-12 (includes both museums) | Open: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm (November-March until 5pm) | Highlight: Klimt's Judith II (Salome), 1909, bought Venice Biennale 1910 | Vaporetto: San Stae (line 1)
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Longhena's facade -- the most elaborate stonework on the Grand Canal
Baldassarre Longhena (1598-1682) designed Ca' Pesaro in 1659 for Giovanni Pesaro (who had been Doge 1658-1659). The building was completed 28 years after Longhena's death by Antonio Gaspari, who followed Longhena's designs for the upper floors. The facade on the Grand Canal is the most technically ambitious stone decoration on any Venetian palace: the lower two floors (the rusticated base) are faced with alternating rounded and diamond-point ashlar bosses, creating a three-dimensional surface that catches the light from the canal in constantly shifting patterns throughout the day. The comparison with the Salute: Longhena's Church of Santa Maria della Salute (1631-1681) is his most famous work. The Ca' Pesaro facade demonstrates the same mastery of light-catching stone ornament in a secular context. The two-toned rustication is specifically Venetian in its use of the Istrian stone (the white limestone quarried from the Istrian peninsula, the standard Venetian building material for decorative surfaces) against the brick structure. The Ca' Pesaro facade is best viewed from the vaporetto stop at San Stae (line 1) or from the opposite canal bank near the San Stae church.
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See availability & prices →Compare tours on Viator →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.Klimt's Judith II -- why it is here and not in Vienna
Gustav Klimt's Judith II (also called Salome, 1909) is the centerpiece of the Ca' Pesaro modern art collection. The painting was exhibited at the IX Venice Biennale in 1910 -- Klimt submitted it under the title Salome to the Venice showing -- and was bought by the Venice municipality at that exhibition for the Museo Civico collection, which eventually became the Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna at Ca' Pesaro. Why this matters: the standard Klimt collection (the Klimt works in Vienna at the Belvedere and the Wien Museum) are the Austrian national holdings. The Ca' Pesaro Judith II is the most significant Klimt work held outside Austria. The painting shows the Judith/Salome figure (the biblical women associated with decapitation -- Judith killed Holofernes. Salome requested John the Baptist's head) in Klimt's characteristic gold-and-Byzantine mosaic manner, with the specific erotic-sinister quality that made his work controversial at the 1910 Biennale. The Biennale archive dimension: the Ca' Pesaro collection includes works bought systematically at the Venice Biennale from 1895 onward -- the collection documents the history of the Biennale's international prize system and gives a specific view of which works Venice's civic cultural policy valued at each Biennale. Venice guide
The Museo d'Arte Orientale -- one grand tour collection assembled in two years
The third floor of Ca' Pesaro houses the Museo d'Arte Orientale -- a collection of approximately 30,000 objects of Asian art assembled by Prince Enrico di Borbone-Parma (1851-1905) on a single grand tour journey from 1887 to 1889, covering Japan, China, India, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia. The collection is primarily Japanese (Edo and Meiji period lacquer, ceramics, armour, textiles, and ivories of exceptional quality -- approximately 6,000 items) with significant Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Indonesian sections. The specific historical interest: the collection was assembled in 1887-1889 -- the first decades of the Meiji period when Japan was simultaneously opening to Western commerce and experiencing a specific moment of traditional craft production quality before industrial methods replaced artisan techniques. The Japanese armour collection (24 complete sets of samurai armour) is one of the finest outside Japan.
What is Ca' Pesaro in Venice?
Ca' Pesaro is a 17th-century Baroque palace on the Grand Canal in Venice (Santa Croce sestiere), designed by Baldassarre Longhena from 1659. It houses two museums: the Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna (floor 2-3, with Klimt's Judith II bought at the 1910 Venice Biennale, Chagall, Kandinsky, and 250+ 20th-century works) and the Museo d'Arte Orientale (floor 3, one of Europe's finest Asian art collections -- 30,000 objects including 6,000 Japanese Meiji-period pieces, assembled on a single 1887-1889 world tour). Entry €10-12. Open Tuesday-Sunday. Vaporetto stop San Stae (line 1). One of the least crowded major museums in Venice.
Where is Klimt's Judith II?
Klimt's Judith II (Salome, 1909) is in the Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna at Ca' Pesaro, Venice -- the most significant Klimt work held outside Austria. It was bought by Venice at the IX Venice Biennale in 1910 (where Klimt exhibited it under the title Salome). The painting shows the Judith/Salome figure in Klimt's characteristic gold-Byzantine manner. It is in room 11 of the Ca' Pesaro modern art gallery, floor 2. Entry approximately €10-12 for the combined museum ticket.
How do I get to Ca' Pesaro in Venice?
Ca' Pesaro is at Fondamenta de Ca' Pesaro in the Santa Croce sestiere. Vaporetto: line 1 to San Stae stop (the museum is immediately adjacent to the San Stae church, visible from the vaporetto -- the Baroque facade is the building with the elaborately rusticated stone base). Walking from the train station: approximately 15 minutes through the Cannaregio/Santa Croce. Crossing the Rialto Bridge adds 5 minutes from San Marco direction. Walking from the Rialto: approximately 10 minutes northwest along the Grand Canal.
Is Ca' Pesaro worth visiting in Venice?
Ca' Pesaro is worth visiting specifically because: it is the least crowded major museum in Venice (180,000 visitors/year versus 350,000 at the Accademia and 1 million at the Palazzo Ducale), meaning you can see the Klimt Judith II without queue or crowd. The Longhena Grand Canal facade is the finest Baroque stone facade in Venice. And the Oriental Art Museum's Japanese collection is a specific Meiji-period quality that is rarely accessible outside specialist museums in Japan. The combined visit takes 90-120 minutes. Best combined with: the Ca' d'Oro (10 minutes walk, the Gothic palace museum) and the Rialto market morning for a complete upper Grand Canal circuit.
What Venice Biennale works are at Ca' Pesaro?
The Ca' Pesaro Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna was built systematically through Venice Biennale buys from 1895 onward. Key Biennale acquisitions: Klimt's Judith II (1910 Biennale buy). Umberto Boccioni's Two Women (Futurist, 1909-1910). Felice Casorati's paintings (multiple Biennale prizes in the 1920s-30s). Arturo Martini's sculpture (1920s-30s). Chagall's Rabbi of Vitebsk (bought 1936). And Kandinsky's White Zig Zag (1922, bought from the 1950 Biennale). The collection documents the Biennale's prize history as cultural policy -- which works Venice chose to collect at each edition reveals the specific critical priorities of Italian civic art patronage at each period.
What is the Museo d'Arte Orientale at Ca' Pesaro?
The Museo d'Arte Orientale on the third floor of Ca' Pesaro is one of the finest Asian art collections in Europe -- approximately 30,000 objects assembled by Prince Enrico di Borbone-Parma on a single 1887-1889 world tour through Japan, China, India, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia. The Japanese collection (6,000 items, Edo and Meiji periods) is the primary focus: lacquer, ceramics, ivories, textiles, and 24 complete sets of samurai armour of exceptional quality. The collection's historical specificity: assembled in 1887-1889, it documents traditional Japanese craft production at the exact moment before industrial methods changed the conditions of manufacture. Entry included in the combined Ca' Pesaro ticket.
Planning a Venice beyond the crowds trip?
Ca' Pesaro Klimt Judith II + Longhena Baroque facade + Oriental Art Museum + San Stae church -- the upper Grand Canal circuit without queues.
Plan my Venice trip →What is the Ca' d'Oro near Ca' Pesaro?
The Ca' d'Oro (House of Gold, 1421-1440) is one of the most famous Gothic palaces on the Grand Canal -- 10 minutes walk from Ca' Pesaro through the Cannaregio district. Its name refers to the original gilt decoration of the stone tracery facade (the gold leaf has long since disappeared, leaving the characteristic white Istrian stone and red-brick pattern). The interior houses the Galleria Franchetti -- a collection of Renaissance paintings, tapestries, and sculpture donated to the Italian state by Baron Giorgio Franchetti in 1916. The Franchetti collection highlights: Andrea Mantegna's Saint Sebastian (1480, the finest Mantegna painting in Venice, with the characteristic stone-pillar background and the meticulous body of the martyred saint). And Tullio Lombardo's Double Portrait. Entry approximately €8. Accessible by vaporetto Ca' d'Oro stop (line 1). The Ca' d'Oro + Ca' Pesaro circuit gives the two finest Venetian palace museum experiences north of the Rialto in a single half-day itinerary.
What other museums should I see in Venice beyond the main sites?
Venice less-visited museums worth specific attention: Ca' Pesaro (Klimt Judith II, Oriental Art Museum -- described in this guide). The Ca' d'Oro Galleria Franchetti (Mantegna, Gothic palace). The Museo di Storia Naturale (Natural History Museum in the Fontego dei Turchi -- the Venetian Ottoman trading house, the most interesting building on the Grand Canal after the Salute. The museum inside has a complete mosasaur skeleton and a dinosaur gallery alongside the natural history collections. Entry approximately €8). The Scuola Grande di San Rocco (the Tintoretto cycle -- 52 paintings by Tintoretto covering the walls and ceiling of the Scuola's two main halls. The most ambitious single decorative commission by a Venetian painter, often compared to the Sistine Chapel. Entry approximately €10). And the Museo Correr at the far end of Piazza San Marco (the Venetian history and art museum, the Bellini paintings, the cartography collection -- frequently missed because it is accessed through the Piazza rather than independently signposted).
What is the Venice Biennale and when is it?
The Venice Biennale (Biennale di Venezia) is the most prestigious recurring international contemporary art exhibition -- held in the Giardini della Biennale (the garden pavilions on the eastern Castello waterfront) and the Arsenale (the medieval naval shipyard) in alternate years (odd years: Venice Art Biennale. Even years: Venice Architecture Biennale). The Art Biennale (2025, 2027) runs approximately May-November. The Architecture Biennale (2026) runs approximately May-November. Entry to the Giardini pavilions and Arsenale approximately €25-30 for a day pass. The Ca' Pesaro collection was built specifically through Venice Biennale prize acquisitions from 1895. Visiting Ca' Pesaro gives the historical context for understanding how the Biennale has functioned as cultural policy over 130 years.
What is the San Stae church near Ca' Pesaro?
The Church of San Stae (Sant'Eustachio, 1709) is immediately adjacent to Ca' Pesaro on the Grand Canal -- a Baroque church with one of the finest Grand Canal facades, the white Istrian stone pediment and the specific Canal frontage that makes it one of the most photographed church exteriors in Venice. The interior is modest but has a specific documentary interest: the first chapel on the right contains three paintings commissioned in 1717-1722 from young Venetian painters who were just beginning their careers -- one of the three is by Giambattista Tiepolo (the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, 1722), one of his earliest significant public commissions, painted when he was 25. The Tiepolo is in room with Palma il Giovane and Ricci. Comparing the three paintings gives the specific moment when Tiepolo's mastery of light becomes visible against the competent but less luminous work of his contemporaries. Free entry.
