Ca' Vendramin Calergi

A topographical cabinet card showing a view of the Ca' Vendramin Calergi on the Grand Canal in Venice, also known as the Palazzo Vendramin Calergi and several other names. The distinguished Renaissance palace is best remembered as the place where Richard Wagner died in 1883. He was staying at the palazzo when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Currently it is home to the Venice Casino (Casinò di Venezia) and the Wagner Museum (Museo Wagner).

Photographed by Carlo Ponti of Venice.

Carlo Ponti studied photography in Paris in the 1840s. In 1852, he obtained a license to produce and sell photographs in Venice. He ran the first of the big photographic businesses in the city, producing albums with architectural views of great artistic sensitivity. He was also the inventor of camera lenses suitable for panoramic photography.