Paolo Salviati - Palazzo Barbaro, Grand Canal, Venice, late 19th century

Paolo Salviati (Venice, 1818 - 1894)

Palazzo Barbaro, Grand Canal, Venice, late 19th century

Albumen print, 19 x 25 cm (7 1/2 x 9 13/16 in.)

Commentary

Henry James stayed with Isabella Stewart Gardner at the Palazzo Barbaro, a historic home on the Grand Canal in Venice, for several weeks in 1892. The Gardners rented this palace seasonally from its expatriate American owners, Daniel and Ariana Curtis, who also counted James as a friend. Much to his delight, Gardner arranged for James to sleep in a four-poster bed draped with mosquito netting in the “divine old library—where I am fain to pass the livelong day.”