As I’ve written before, some of the best views of Venice come when you look directly overhead.
That’s very true here, in the galleries on the Piano Nobile of the Palazzo Querini Stampalia. Carlo Scarpa, the master architect of 20th Century Venice created the bridge, entry and ground level gardens here, but upstairs in the venerable galleries showing this family’s renowned collections, it is all baroque Venetian architecture. The ceilings are a story of grandeur and the effects of time, often ignored by visitors intent on the riches hanging on the walls: Marvelous confections of stucco, paint and gilding.