This article is about the historical Venetian family. For the modern criminal organization, see
Barbaro 'ndrina.
The Barbaro family (/'bar.ba.ro/) was a
patrician family of
Venice. They were wealthy and influential and owned large estates in the
Veneto above
Treviso.[1]: 112 Various members were noted as church leaders, diplomats, patrons of the arts, military commanders, philosophers, scholars, and scientists.[2]: 150 [3]: 275
History
Barbaro family tradition claims they were descended the Roman
gens Catellia[3]: 274 [4]: 11 and more distantly from the
Fabii.[4]: 11 Like other Venetian patrician families, they also claimed descent from Roman families with similar names, in this case
Ahenobarbus.[5][6] Tradition also says they fled to
Istria to avoid persecution during the reign of Emperor
Diocletian.[3]: 274 The family's wealth came from the salt trade.[7]
Records show the family moved from
Pula to
Trieste in 706 and then to Venice in 868.<[3]: 274 [4]: 11 [8]: 161 At this time the family's
surname was Magadesi.[9]: 87 [10]: 136 (Alternate spellings were Magadezzi[4]: 11 [8]: 161 and Maghadesi.)[11]: 7
The first recorded member of the family was Paolo Magadesi, who was
Procurator of San Marco.[4]: 14 [11]: 8 Charles Yriarte says this occurred when
Pietro Tradonico was Doge of Venice (836–864),[11]: 8 though most sources say the family did not live in Venice until later.[3]: 274 [4]: 11 [8]: 161
An Antonio Magadesi was also
Procurator of San Marco in 968.[12]: 346 and Johannes Magadesi was a
presbyter of the Church of San Zorzi in 982 and has also been cited as the first member of the Barbaro family that we have a historical record of.[3]: 274
Recorded genealogy of the Barbaro family begins in 1121 with Marco, naval commander and creator of the modern coat of arms,[3]: 275 who changed his surname name from Magadesi to Barbaro.[4]: 12 [9]: 87
The Barbaro family was recognized as one of the leading families (Ottomati) of the Republic of Venice in the year 992. In 1297, the
Maggior Consiglio (Senate of Venice) recognized the family as
patricians[3]: 275 The
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia confirmed the family status as Patricians as part of a series of resolutions issued from 1818 to 1821.[3]: 275 This status was officially recorded again in Venice in 1891 for all members of the family.[3]: 275
The Barbaro family fortunes diminished after
Napoleon's defeat of Venice and they had to turn most of the
Palazzi Barbaro into apartments.[2]: 150 By the time art critic
John Ruskin visited Venice in 1851 all that was left of the once powerful Barbaro family were a pair of elderly brothers living in poverty in the garret of the
Palazzo Barbaro.[14]: 20
Ruskin wrote that the poverty of these last members of the Barbaro family was justice for the family having rebuilt the Church of
Santa Maria Zobenigo as a monument to themselves, which Ruskin called "a manifestation of insolent atheism".[14]: 78 The last of the family died in the mid-nineteenth century.[2]: 150
Some branches of the family survived outside Venice. The most prominent was in
Malta,[15] but there were also branches in
Galatia and other parts of Italy.[3]: 277
Family arms
There is disagreement over the form of the ancient Barbaro
coat of arms.
Johannes Rietstap and others identify it as "D'or, à deux bandes d'azur, accompagne de deux roses du même", a gold field with two
bands of blue between two roses of the same color.[4]: 13 [11]: 9 [16] d'Eschavannes identifies it as "D'azur, à trois roses d'or"', a blue field with three gold roses.[17]: 53
Sources agree that the modern Barbaro
coat of arms is D'argent, au cyclamore de gueules, a red
ring on a white
field.[3]: 503 [17]: 53 [18]
The modern Barbaro family arms were officially recognized by the
Venetian Senate in 1125 in remembrance of Marco Barbaro cutting off the hand of a
Moor during a naval action near
Ascalon and using the bleeding stump to draw a circle onto a turban, which he flew as a pennant from his
masthead.[10]: 135 [11]: 7 [19][20][21][22]
Until this incident, he was known as Marco Magadesi.[4]: 12 [8]: 161 [9]: 87 Saracens boarded the galley he commanded and tore down the ship's flag, which bore the family
coat of arms.[4]: 12 [8]: 161 Marco Magadesi used the bloody turban as an improvised flag to let the rest of the fleet know his ship had not been captured.[4]: 12 [8]: 161 After the action, he changed his family name from Magadesi to Barbaro<[8]: 161 in recognition of the incident and to honor the heroism of his fallen enemies, who he considered
barbarians.[4]: 11
Marco Barbaro née Magadezzi/Maghadesi (c.1121)
Provveditore d'Armata, Naval victor against the forces of the
Sultan of Egypt, creator of the modern Barbaro coat of arms.[3]: 275 The Barbaro family arms were officially recognized in 1123 by the Venetian Senate.[3]: 275 A painting of the victory by
Sante Peranda hung in the
Palazzo Ducale of Venice.[3]: 275 [11]: 8
Marco Barbaro (c.1229) Son of Pietro, cavalry captain in forces that defeated
Ezzelino III da Romano tyrant of
Padua[3]: 275 [4]: 346
Donato Barbaro (c.1259) Son of Pietro, captain of 40 galleys, defeated the Genoese and the forces of the
Byzantine Emperor Manuel at the Island of Seven Wells (Isola dei Sette Pozzi).[3]: 275 [4]: 346 [27]
Pietro Barbaro (c.1270) Son of Jacopo. Served in the cavalry of
Charles of Anjou in the conquest of
Naples. Recognized by Charles for his actions in the
Battle of Benevento; appointed Signore of the Castle of
Pietramala.[3]: 275
Bernardo Barbaro (c.1370) Son of Donato. Ambassador for the
Doge to the Sultan of Egypt.[3]: 275
Giovanni Barbaro (c.1380) Son of Adamo.
Provveditore of the army that fought against
Padua.[3]: 275
Francesco Barbaro (c.1398) Son of Marco. One of the founders of the Congregazione dei Canonici Secolari (Secular Canons) of San Giorgio in
Alga.[3]: 275
Francesco Barbaro (1398–1454) Son of Candiano,[30]: 135 uncle to
Ermolao Barbaro[30]: 136 Author, diplomat, politician, and military commander. Honored for his defense of
Brescia from 1432 to 1435 against the Milanese under
Niccolò Piccinino.[3]: 275 A painting on this subject by
Tintoretto, La difesa di Brescia, hung in the
Palazzo Ducale of Venice. .[3]: 276 Ambassador to
Emperor Sigismund of the
Holy Roman Empire. Made Knight of the Holy Roman Empire in 1448. Elected Procurator of San Marco. Noted scholar with many works. Subject of a 1932 biography by
Percy Gothein.[3]: 276
Almoro Barbaro (c.1403) Son of Adamo. Captain of a galley in the victory of
Carlo Zeno against the Genoese.[3]: 275
Giosafat Barbaro (1413–1494) Son of Antonio. Traveled to
Tana in 1436.[35] In 1473, he was one of several Venetian ambassadors to Persia.[36] Barbaro also served as
Provveditore of the Army in
Albania fighting with
Skanderbeg against the Turks.[3]: 276 [30]: 137 Barbaro served as Captain of
Rovigo and
Provveditore of all
Polesine from 1482 to 1483.[37]: 16 Barbaro wrote about his travels[3]: 276 [30]: 137
Dona Barbaro was Auditor of
Trau from 1440 to 1443.[48]
Bernabo Barbaro was Auditor of
Grado in 1446.[28]: 192
Ermolao Barbaro (c.1448) Son of Candiano. Ambassador to the
Duke of Burgundy.[3]: 276
Donato Barbaro, son of Andréa, was Captain of
Zara from 1450 to 1451,[49]: 293 and
Castellan and
Provveditore of
Modon in 1455,[38]: 380 and Captain of
Zara from 1462 to 1465.[49]: 293
Pietro Barbaro was Rector of
Belluno from 1472 to 1473.[53]: 133 and
Podestà and Captain of
Ravenna in 1475.[52]: 337
Zaccaria Barbaro, son of Matteo was Rector of
Nauplia and
Argos from 1473 to 1477[38]: 384 and
Provveditore General of
Cyprus in 1479. Captain against the Turks.[3]: 276
Andrea Barbaro was Auditor of
Grado in 1487.[28]: 193
Ermolao Barbaro (1493–1556) Son of Alvise Barbaro and nephew of
Ermolao Barbaro. After holding a series of junior naval and diplomatic posts, he became Governor of
Verona from 1544 to 1555 and governor of
Padua from 1548 to 1550.[41]: 92 [57]: 244
Daniele Barbaro was Auditor of
Grado in 1499.[28]: 193
Lunardo Barbaro was Massaro all'oro at the
Zecca (the Venetian Mint) in 1504.[56]: 344
Girolamo Barbaro was Auditor of
Zara from 1504 to 1507.[49]: 290
Ermolao Barbaro (1548–1622) son of Marc'Antonio. Bishop of Aquileia (1596–1616), Patriarch of Aquileia(1616–1622)[26] Ambassador to
Pope Paul V,
Archbishop of Tarsus.[3]: 277
Luigi Barbaro, son of Giovanni, was Captain and
Provveditore of
Corfu from 1598 to 1600.[38]: 397
Aurelio Barbaro was Rector of
Fiume in 1602, 1612, and 1624.[66]
Cornelio Barbaro, son of Giovanni, was Massaro all'argento at the
Zecca (the Venetian Mint) in 1606[56]: 362 and
Castellan and
Provveditore of
Cerigo from 1612 to 1614.[38]: 412
Almoro Barbaro, son of Luigi, was
Provveditore of
Zante from 1615 to 1617.[38]: 408 [68]: 81 Plague struck Zante in 1617.[68]: 580
Antonio Barbaro was
Provedditore General in
Istria during the
War of Gradisca.[68]: 241 He was relieved on the grounds of illness in 1616, but reappointed in 1617.[69]
Lorenzo Barbaro established a school in 1711 for the education of poor women in the
San Andrea district, which was run by the Sisters of San Dorotea.[27]
Giuseppe Barbaro was Auditor of
Zara from 1746 to 1748.[49]: 292 and Captain of
Zara from 1749 to 1752.[49]: 295
Vicenzo Barbaro was Massaro all'oro at the
Zecca (the Venetian Mint) in 1748.[56]: 353
Andrea Lauro Barbaro was Captain of
Grisignana from 1748 to 1750.[34]: 184
Zuanne Alvise Barbaro was Massaro all'argento at the
Zecca (the Venetian Mint) in 1751.[56]: 367
Stefano Barbaro was Massaro all'argento at the
Zecca (the Venetian Mint) in 1753.[56]: 367
Antonio Barbaro was Rector of
Belluno from 1752 to 1754,[53]: 141 Auditor of
Grado from 1754 to 1755,[28]: 197 and Auditor of
Zara from 1756 to 1758.[49]: 292
The Barbaro family was connected to several buildings in and near Venice, some of which include:
The
Palazzi Barbaro, located near the
Ponte dell'Accademia, was the family's principal residence in Venice.[1]: 112 until 1864.[12]: 282 "The buildings are also known as the Palazzo Barbaro-Curtis.[12]: 282 It is one of the least altered of the Gothic palaces of Venice.[1]: 112
Another Palazzo Barbaro owned by a Daniele Barbaro and in 1797 by a Marco Barbaro.[12]: 58
Yet another Palazzo Barbaro, near the
Palazzo Barbarigo. It was owned in 1661 by a Lorenzo Barbaro and in 1712 by a Francesco Antonio Barbaro, but by 1740 it belonged to the Barbarigo family.[12]: 298
The
Palazzo Dario was built about 1450 by Zuanne Dario. After the death of diplomat Giovanni Dario in 1494, his daughter inherited. She was married to Vincenzo Barbaro, the son of Giacomo Barbaro and owner of the neighboring Palazzo Barbaro.[12]: 329
Another Palazzo Barbaro, now known as the Palazzo Barbaro-Volkoff or Barbaro-Wolkoff. This 14th-century Gothic palace was owned by an Antonio Barbaro in 1797.
Eleonora Duse later lived there.[12]: 330
Starting in 1534, Fra Zuanne Barbaro was one of two friars who were responsible for rebuilding the Church of
San Francesco della Vigna according to the design of
Jacopo Sansovino. Zuanne's brother Francisco was the first Venetian noble to purchase a family chapel there.[1]: 112 Daniele Barbaro commissioned the church's altarpiece of' 'The Baptism of Christ (c.1555) by
Battista Franco and was buried in an unmarked grave in behind the church instead of in the family chapel.[1]: 113
The church of
Santa Maria Zobenigo, also known as the Santa Maria de Giglio was built around 900 by the Zubenigo family, who died out in 1124. It was rebuilt between 1680 and 1700 by
Giuseppe Sardi. The Barbaro family funded the rebuilding and the church contains statues of four members of the family. The façade shows plans for
Rome,
Corfu,
Padua,
Candia,
Spalatro, and
Pavia.[12]: 54
^
abcdefgPagine istriane, Associazione istriana di studi e storia patria, Centro di cultura Giuliano Dalmata, Societa istriana di archeology, Trieste, 1905