Olfactive Restoration: Casino Venier, Venice, September 1757.

Hidden behind an unassuming doorway lies one of Venice’s most celebrated private salons. Candlelight softens elaborate stuccowork into clouds of ivory and gold while mirrors multiply every flickering flame. Powdered iris, Turkish rose water and orange blossom perfume silk garments and powdered wigs as whispered conversations drift beneath the delicate notes of a distant mandolin. Outside, Venice continues its restless rhythm. Within these rooms, beauty alone suspends time.

Developed with Rodrigo Flores-Roux.

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- Venice in the 18th century was a fashionable destination for nobles from all over Europe, and while they certainly enjoyed the beauty of the city, they enjoyed its licentious social life even more. Besides the cafés, the theatres, and, of course, the Carnival celebrations, Venice became famous for the many private spaces where exclusive gatherings were held: the casinos. The word translates as “small house”, and refers to an apartment or a self-standing building smaller than the official palazzos of the noble families.

- Another similar term is ridotto, from the Latin “reducere” meaning “to gather”, which clearly explains the primary purpose of these spaces: private retreats for exclusive parties. Even though the first record of a ridotto dates to 1282, it’s in the 1600s and 1700s, the most decadent centuries of the Serenissima, that such spaces multiplied in Venice. By 1797, the year of the end of the Venetian Republic, there were 136 of them. As Rococo art and architecture was at its hight during the 18th century, these apartments became delicate jewel boxes of stuccoed walls, refined furniture and frescoed ceilings, all in the classic pastels of Venetian pink, green and white.

- It was quite common for noblewomen to have their private retreats as well. The records mention the presence of two casinos along the same calle, one belonging to the nobleman Antonio Nani and the other to his wife Lucrezia: she had two servants in charge of inviting foreign gentlemen to the parties taking place every night. Others were used by groups of friends like the “Casino delle Amazzoni”, the most prestigious club of noblewomen in town.

- What happened inside a ridotto is what's most interesting, as there was often a gap between what was supposed to happen and what actually happened within the stuccoed walls and frescoed ceilings of these intimate apartments. Poetry and music were legal and common pastimes in many ridotti. Gambling was absolutely forbidden, yet, it was the most common activity during such parties. Another common use of these private spaces was for romantic encounters. The famous lover Giacomo Casanova described some of the places where he would have his private meetings: these were small, luxurious apartments equipped with everything a couple might need, from bathtubs and mirrors to erotic scenes painted on the walls, and even… peepholes.

- The Casino Venier is a Rococo jewel located between the Rialto bridge and Piazza San Marco. The owner of this Casino was a cultured and refined noblewoman, Elina Priuli Venier. During the late 1700s, women of noble origins had exclusive rooms, where their husband could not have access, and the women and their guests had a certain freedom of action, including whoever they wanted.

- Observing and being observed are the main theme in the Casino Venier. The layout of this ridotto shows a sense of secrecy. Hidden in the marble floor of the entrance hall, there is a peephole that allows someone upstairs to monitor who is about the enter. This might be related to the fact that Elina Priuli Venier’s husband was against the game as a procurator, while she owned the ridotto. This peephole is an excellent tool to protect the intimacy of this place. Even the musicians were hidden away from the streets in order to create a pure entertaining space.