What do you think?
Rate this book
Inside Venice: A Private View of the City's Most Beautiful Interiors
The superb private interiors of Venice are revealed in this lavishly photographed book. This gorgeously photographed journey through entrancingly beautiful Venetian interiors is sure to appeal to Venice’s many admirers interested in the elegance and refinement of classical Old World interior design. The private properties featured in this handsome volume are not accessible to the public and most are published here for the first time. The book is a luxurious presentation of the hidden architectural and interior design treasures of Venice, ranging from historical ninth-century buildings to contemporary renovations that blend old and new. Seventy-two properties, each photographed exclusively for the book, are profiled—mainly private apartments and palazzos, along with some churches, hotels, and other public spaces that those interested in interiors will find inspiring. Author and preservation expert Toto Bergamo Rossi personally selected each property for inclusion based on his detailed field knowledge gained over many years as director of the Venetian Heritage Foundation, whose mission is to safeguard Venetian cultural heritage as manifested in architecture, music, and fine art.
- GenresItalyArtNonfiction
310 pages, Hardcover
First published February 16, 2016
1 person is currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Diane Von Furstenberg
37 books162 followersDiane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin) is a fashion designer best known for her hallmark wrap dress.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 6, 2017
One of my reading goals for 2017 is to actually read some of my larger pictorial non-fiction books, collected up over the years on a variety of subjects. So, in this spirit I started off with a giant photographic love letter to Venice which I brought home from the library (hmmm, so yeah, that didn't help me to lower my own pile of books).....
Each image in this book is so enormous it makes you feel immediately like your taking a private tour of spectacular Palazzo's of Venice. It is an odd kind of whistlestop tour - an architrave here, a chubby putti there, some gloriously detailed images of frescos and stuccowork. It made me look up all kinds of things and the fact I had to was kind of the biggest failing of the book. It presupposed more than a passing familiarity with Venetian interior design styles and it became evident that I should have known my polychrome marble work from my Cordoba leather wall-coverings. The accompanying text is the equivalent of a tour guide waving their arms vaguely at a wall and reciting a string of names and something slightly curious like - singing orphans hidden in the walls, before abruptly moving onto a new location.
I really needed more context here and frankly a better writer. Even a glossary of terms would have been something.
As to the "foreward" supposedly authored by Diane Von Furstenberg and Peter Marino (why are there so many credited authors on this thing), that read exactly like an essay cobbled together hastily from a Wikipedia page ....I am not sure why it was needed at all.
Nevertheless, this book made me want to rent a lavish Palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal (or any canal frankly) and kick back with a copy of Death in Venice and occasionally gaze upon a cheeky cherub.
Each image in this book is so enormous it makes you feel immediately like your taking a private tour of spectacular Palazzo's of Venice. It is an odd kind of whistlestop tour - an architrave here, a chubby putti there, some gloriously detailed images of frescos and stuccowork. It made me look up all kinds of things and the fact I had to was kind of the biggest failing of the book. It presupposed more than a passing familiarity with Venetian interior design styles and it became evident that I should have known my polychrome marble work from my Cordoba leather wall-coverings. The accompanying text is the equivalent of a tour guide waving their arms vaguely at a wall and reciting a string of names and something slightly curious like - singing orphans hidden in the walls, before abruptly moving onto a new location.
I really needed more context here and frankly a better writer. Even a glossary of terms would have been something.
As to the "foreward" supposedly authored by Diane Von Furstenberg and Peter Marino (why are there so many credited authors on this thing), that read exactly like an essay cobbled together hastily from a Wikipedia page ....I am not sure why it was needed at all.
Nevertheless, this book made me want to rent a lavish Palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal (or any canal frankly) and kick back with a copy of Death in Venice and occasionally gaze upon a cheeky cherub.
Displaying 1 of 1 review