A Jacobite Gazetteer - Italy

Venice

Locanda Leon Bianco

Albergo Leon Bianco

In May 1728 King James III and VIII made an incognito visit to Venice for the Feast of the Ascension. He stayed at the White Lion Hotel (Albergo Leon Bianco).

On the same site today (Cannaregio 5629) is another hotel, the Locanda Leon Bianco.

Website: www.leonbianco.it. Telephone: 39.041.5233572.

Monastero di San Giorgio Maggiore

In 1799 the College of Cardinals met in this monastery to elect Pope Pius VII; King Henry IX and I served as Vice-Dean. The room used for the conclave, the Cappella Superiore, can be reached by a spiral staircase near the sacristy. The stalls of this chapel are still decorated with the names of each of the cardinals who participated in the conclave. ¹

The church is open daily from 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., and from 2.00 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. The Cappella Superiore can be visited on request.

Palazzo Franchetti

This palace (formerly called Palazzo Cavalli Gussoni) is located on the Grand Canal only a few hundred metres west of Piazza San Marco. In 1847 it was purchased by the comte de Chambord, husband of Princess Maria Theresa, and brother-in-law of King Francis I. ² The comte and comtesse de Chambord continued to live here part of the year until 1866 when Venice became part of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1878 the palace was sold to Baron Raimondo Franchetti (from whom the palace takes it current name). Today the palace is the seat of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.

The palace was the setting for the portrait of the comte de Chambord by Adeodata Malatesta now in the Palazzo Ducale in Modena. It may also be the setting for Malatesta's companion portrait of the comtesse de Chambord now in the Museo Civico in Modena.

Palazzo Franchetti

Notes

¹ "Visit San Giorgio", http://www.doge.it/sgiorgio/vis3.htm; "La Giudecca", http://www.venicecard.it/itinerari/sgiorgio.jsp. I have been told that there are also portraits of each of the cardinals, but have not been able to confirm this.

² The palace was purchased from the estate of Archduke Friedrich of Austria who had died that year. Archduke Friedrich was the younger brother of Archduke Karl Ferdinand, the second husband of Archduchess Elisabeth, mother of Queen Mary IV and III. The comte de Chambord's mother the duchesse de Berry had maintained a residence in Venice at Palazzo Loredan Vendramin Calergi (now the Casino) since 1844.