Visiting the Piano Nobile at the Fortuny Palace feels like a fairy tale from One Thousand and One Nights. Serenissima's largest private hall to date was once part of the work and residence of the eccentric and versatile genius Mariano Fortuny and his wife Henriette. Today, here and at a higher level, the enchanting legacy of the “Wizard of Venice” is impressive, as a photographer, painter, decorator, fashion designer, textile producer and inventor of his artistic style – an avant-garde mixture of antiquity, the East and the Renaissance – who in the first half achieved great fame in the city Universal Venice in the Twentieth Century.
The most remarkable curtains, tapestries, enormous sofas, and the famous Delphos dress that shaped the world of fashion, and in whose silken folds women of rank and name lost themselves in its silken folds, bear witness to his textile prowess, and the stage models with their sophisticated lighting systems bear witness to his virtuosity. His passion for acting and his innovative spirit earned him 50 patents.
About 150 of his paintings, like the gallery, complete the collection of pure aesthetics. At the latest, in the magnificent conservatory filled with nymphs, animals and winged spirits on the walls, you feel very close to the spirit of this inspiring and tireless creator.
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