Ca' Rezzonico - Ca' Rezzonico in The 19th Century

Ca' Rezzonico in The 19th Century

In the early years of the 19th century, the palazzo was to become Jesuit College, however through complicated inheritance it finally came into the hands of the Pindemonte-Giovanelli family. In 1832, the family sold the entire furnishings and collections of the palazzo. Only the frescos remained in situ. In 1837, Ca' Rezzonico was acquired by Count Ladislao Zelinsky, he in turn let the palazzo to a succession of aristocratic tenants. In the 1880s, it became the home of the painter Robert Barrett Browning, whose father Robert Browning, the poet, died in his apartment on the mezzanine floor in 1889. At this time, the American portrait painter John Singer Sargent also had a studio in the palazzo.

In 1906, Browning ignoring an offer from the German Emperor Wilhelm II sold the building to Count Lionello von Hierschel de Minerbi instead. The extravagant, art loving de Minerbi (who refurnished the palazzo with objets d'art, sometimes in questionable taste) lived lavishly at the palazzo until 1935 when, like his predecessors the Bon family, the money ran out.