We can find a witness of these masterpieces thanks to the detailed inventories compiled in order to decide on Gerardo Sagredo’s heritage. For instance, we know that the paintings were so many that they had to be disposed in four rows to allow their exposition, classified by size in order to favour the observation.
Stucco works, sculptures, books, printings and other works which are still in the palace or which left a trace here are really numerous: throughout the centuries many works and pieces of the Sagredo’s precious collection were sold, moved or lost, and only through these inventories we can reconstruct each one’s path, besides the commitment and value.
Among the members of this family we mention in particular Nicolò, Zaccaria and Agostino, who devoted their whole life to art with attention and passion.
Nicolò Sagredo (Venice 1606-1676)
Firstborn in the Sagredo di Santa Sofia branch, son of Zaccaria, procurator, and of Paola Foscarini di Alessandro, Nicolò is considered one of the most famous members of the noble Venetian family, engaged at high levels in the Serenissima hierarchy, first as an ambassador by the courts of Spain, Germany and France, then elected Doge from 1675 to 1676, when he died. Besides the career, Nicolò Sagredo was very engaged with his passion for art, grown during his permanence in Rome between 1651 and 1656 as a Venetian ambassador by Innocenzo X.
Zaccaria Sagredo (Venice, 1653 – 1729)
Considered as one of the most important Venetian artists of the 18th century, Zaccaria, firstborn of three sons, born from Stefano Sagredo and Vienna Foscarini, never got married and lived quite alone and far from charges by the Serenissima. His passion for art collection, his main activity, concretized by forming a rich gallery constituted not only by pictures, partly inherited, but also by a huge graphical collection, “since he had spent big amounts in books, papers, drawings and weapons”.
Agostino Sagredo (Venice 1798- Vigonovo 1871)
”I bequeath to the Museo Correr my home manuscripts, the pictures inside my rooms”. So Agostino Sagredo says in his will, written on April 3rd 1869, disposing the donation of his own art collection to the city of Venice. This noble Venetian’s choice is set in the wide 19th century phenomenon of the legacy of private collections to the city municipality, witnessing love for the past of the Serenissima and the strong bond with the city, preserving its artistic and cultural patrimony for the memory of posterity.