A Venetian triangle love affair – Venice Love

Venice love

Love & Revenge on the Riviera del Brenta in 18^th century.

Fountain of Love by Francois Boucher 1748 (taken by Mharrsh)

An old Venetian saying goes like this: “Chi se tol par amor, per rabia se lassa” that means “who ends up together for love, will leave each other in anger” (Proverbi Veneti Commentati by Mario Massari, Edizioni Milda S.rl.)

As Baldasserre Castiglione used to say: In love, the only two things which matter are conquest and breaking up, the rest is only a filling!

This is the tragic triangle love story of Pisanetta Mocenigo, Francesco Pisani and the young son of the Renier family, which takes place on the Riviera del Brenta during the 1700s ( as described in the book Racconti, leggende e curiosità della Riviera del Brenta, by Diego Mazzetto, Corbo e Fiore Editore)

It was towards the end of 18^th century and the setting was the amazing Villa Pisani in Strà.

Villa Pisani in Strà by Franco Amormino

A very young girl named Pisanetta Mocenigo, daughter of one of the richest Venetian families of the time, fell in love with the young son of the Renier family. Unfortunately Cavalier Mocenigo had other plans for his daughter and these plans did not include a marriage with the young Renier boy. So right from the start he objected to the relationship. Been a very cunning sort of person, he decided to step up the pace and to stop the love affair. He decided to try something bold: in the summer of 1780 he took all of his family on holiday in Villa Loredan, which is a beautiful villa nearly opposite the amazing Villa Pisani, just across the Brenta River. Villa Pisani was then owned by the Pisani family, the richest Venetian family of the times.

The young girl (being very young and being a girl) was instantly struck by the pomp and wealth of the stately home and by the family who owned it. The father encouraged her to attend to the events and parties in the villa and by doing this she got to meet the young Francesco Pisani, also called Almorò. She immediately fell in love him, forgetting at the same time the young Remier boy (ah, teenage girls – no matter the setting in history, they always behave the same superficial ways!)

With the help of her very content father, Pisanetta gave back to young Remier all of her love letters and by doing so, broke up the engagement. At this point, feeling that she was free to get on with her life, she accepted Francesco’s marriage proposal, with both the Mocenigo and Pisani families’ blessing.

But the Renier family, seeing their dreams of becoming part of such an influential family break apart, could not accept defeat so easily and they decided to do everything in their power to stop the wedding.

Paolo Renier (closely related to the family) was Doge of Venice during those years and he got to his position thanks to some intrigues and plots of which he was the creator. The Doge decided to come to the rescue of the honour of his family and he claimed in front of the supreme tribunal that Pisanetta had been in some way raped by her father. The tribunal did not accept his story, describing it as outrageous and all of the population of Venice and the Riviera del Brenta, on hearing what the doge had tried to do, disapproved his handiwork. So, every time Pisanetta and her new boyfriend Francesco passed along the Brenta river with their carriage, all people started to clap their hands to show their approval for this newly born love story.

Seeing this, the Remier family decided to stop trying to boycott the wedding and get on with their lives. But fate never plays fair, does it?

So Pisanetta and Francesco finally got married, and….. life is never so sweet, is it?

Just a few years after they got married, Pisanetta got very sick and shortly after that she died.

Francesco wandered along the numerous rooms of the villa missing her desperately and the beautiful setting of the park kept reminding him of their time spent together and of the love he lost.

Villa Pisani Park by Patrick Denker

He was so devastated by Pisanetta death that in 1807 he decided to sell Villa Pisani to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had fallen in love with the amazing estate back in 1797 when he arrived in Venice to conquer it. Maybe because he reminded him of Versailles?

You can still see today Bonaparte’s bed and his bathroom when visiting the amazing stately home.

Napoleon’s Bed by Zarpinho

Villa Pisani information taken from their website:

FROM 20TH OCTOBER TO MARCH
9 am – 4 pm (4 pm – 5 pm exit only)

FROM APRIL TO SEPTEMBER
9 am – 8 pm (7 pm – 8 pm exit only)

Open Tuesday-Sunday – Closed on Mondays, 1° May, Christmas and 1° January.

The Maze is open from April to September (9 am – 1,30 pm / 2,15 pm – 7,15 pm), except for bad weather or maintenance works. Access denied to the handicapped. (Call +39 049 502074 for information on the same day).

BOOKINGS

To book visits and services please call the following number:
0039.041.2719019
and choose English.