The Barbaro family () was a patrician family of Venice. They were wealthy and influential and owned large estates in the Veneto above Treviso.Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1, Jane Turner, New York, 2000 Various members were noted as church leaders, diplomats, patrons of the arts, military commanders, philosophers, scholars, and scientists.The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt, Penguin Books, 2006, Enciclopedia storico-nobiliare italiana, Volume 7, Vittorio Spreti, Arnaldo Forni, 1981
History Barbaro family tradition claims they were descended the Roman gens CatelliaFrancesco Barbaro: Früh-Humanismus und Staatskunst in Venedig, Percy Gothein, Berlin, 1932 and more distantly from the Fabii. Like other Venetian patrician families, they also claimed descent from Roman families with similar names, in this case Ahenobarbus.Virgil and the myth of Venice, Craig Kallendorf, Oxford University Press, 1999, pg. 17Venice, Pure City, Peter Ackroyd, Doubleday, New York, 2009, p.96 Tradition also says they fled to Istria to avoid persecution during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. The family's wealth came from the salt trade..
Records show the family moved from Pula to Trieste in 706 and then to Venice in 868.Das Schiff aus Stein: Venedig u.d. Venezianer, Hermann Schreiber, München, 1979 At this time the family's surname was Magadesi.The life of Poggio Bracciolini, William Shepherd, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, London, 1837Una famiglia veneziana nella storia: i Barbaro, Michela Marangoni, Manlio Pastore Stocchi, Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 1996, (Alternate spellings were Magadezzi and Maghadesi.)La vie d'un patricien de Venise au seizième siècle, Charles Yriarte, Paris, 1874
The first recorded member of the family was Paolo Magadesi, who was Procurator of San Marco. Charles Yriarte says this occurred when Pietro Tradonico was Doge of Venice (836–864), though most sources say the family did not live in Venice until later. An Antonio Magadesi was also Procurator of San Marco in 968.Venice on foot, with the itinerary of the Grand Canal and several direct routes to useful places, Hugh A Douglas, C. Scribner's Sons, 1907 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.
Recorded genealogy of the Barbaro family begins in 1121 with Marco, naval commander and creator of the modern coat of arms, who changed his surname name from Magadesi to Barbaro.
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 The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia confirmed the family status as Patricians as part of a series of resolutions issued from 1818 to 1821. This status was officially recorded again in Venice in 1891 for all members of the family.
In the sixteenth century there was a division between those Venetian families who opposed or favored the influence of the Holy See. The latter opposed the law that barred holders of church offices from also holding political appointments in Venice. The Barbaro family was part of this "papalist" group, along with the Badoer, Corner, Emo, Foscari, Grimani, and Pisani families.Venice and the Renaissance, Manfredo Tafuri, trans. Jessica Levine, 1989, MIT Press, These families also acted as patrons of Battista Franco, Palladio, Francesco Salviati, Michele Sanmicheli, Giovanni da Udine, and Federico Zuccari.
The Barbaro family fortunes diminished after Napoleon's defeat of Venice and they had to turn most of the Palazzi Barbaro into apartments. 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.Views of Venice, Antonio Canaletto, Antonio Visentini, J. G. Links, Dover Publications, 1971,
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". The last of the family died in the mid-nineteenth century.
Some branches of the family survived outside Venice. The most prominent was in Malta, but there were also branches in Galatia and other parts of Italy.
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. d'Eschavannes identifies it as "D'azur, à trois roses d'or"', a blue field with three gold roses.Armorial universel, précédé d'un traité complet de la science du blason, et suivi d'un Supplément:, Jouffroy d'Eschavannes, Paris : L. Curmer, 1845–1848
Sources agree that the modern Barbaro coat of arms is D'argent, au cyclamore de gueules, a red ring on a white field.Armorial général: précédé d'un Dictionnaire des termes du blason, Volume 1, Johannes Baptist Rietstap, 1884, pg. 1
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.Venice, Augustus John Cuthbert Hare, Ballantyne Press, 1896, pg. 149Delle inscrizioni veneziane, Volume 4, Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna, Fonni, 1969, pg. 520A literary companion to Venice, Ian Littlewood, Ballantyne Press, 1995, pg. 150Guida per la città di Venezia all'amico delle belle arti, Volume 1, Giannantonio Moschini, Giovanni Antonio Moschini, Tip. di Alvisopoli, 1815, pg. 468
Until this incident, he was known as Marco Magadesi. Saracens boarded the galley he commanded and tore down the ship's flag, which bore the family coat of arms. Marco Magadesi used the bloody turban as an improvised flag to let the rest of the fleet know his ship had not been captured. After the action, he changed his family name from Magadesi to Barbaro in recognition of the incident and to honor the heroism of his fallen enemies, who he considered barbarians.
The Barbaro coat of arms are depicted on the façade of the church of Santa Maria Zobenigo.The Baroque in central Europe: places, architecture and art, Manlio Brusatin; Gilberto Pizzamiglio; Gottfried Biedermann; Mark Smith; et al., Venice, Marsillio, 1992 It is also displayed on the pediment of the Villa Barbaro and the family crypt in the San Francesco della Vigna.The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto, Jonathan Buckley, Rough Guides, 2004, pg.165
In 1432, Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor granted Ambassador Francesco Barbaro the title of Knight of the Holy Roman Empire and the right to quarter his arms with the Imperial Eagles. In 1560, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Ambassador Daniele Barbaro right to use the Tudor Rose in his personal arms.
Notable members The brothers Daniele Barbaro and Marcantonio Barbaro, were patrons of the architect Andrea Palladio and the painter Paolo Veronese.Hobson, Anthony, "Villa Barbaro", in Great Houses of Europe, ed. Sacheverell Sitwell (London: Weidenfeld, 1961), pp. 89–97. Barbaro-family members acted as deans and professors of the University of Padua. Several members were also Patriarchs of Aquileia.
Paolo Magadesi (c.836?) The first recorded member of the family and Procurator of San Marco. Antonio Magadesi (c.968) Procurator of San Marco. Johannes Magadesi (c.982) Presbyter at the Church of San Zorzi. 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. The Barbaro family arms were officially recognized in 1123 by the Venetian Senate. A painting of the victory by Sante Peranda hung in the Palazzo Ducale of Venice. Marco Barbaro (c.1229) Son of Pietro, cavalry captain in forces that defeated Ezzelino III da Romano tyrant of Padua 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). 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. Nicolo Barbaro (c.1361) Son of Bertucci. Provveditore d'Armata, defeated the Genoese at Rhodes. Donato Barbaro (c.1364) Son of Giovanni. Distinguished himself in the suppression of a rebellion in Candia Marco Barbaro was Auditor of Grado in 1366L'Archeografo triestino: raccolta di opuscoli notizie per Trieste e per l'Istria?, Società di Minerva.; Deputazione di storia patria per le Venezie. Sezione di Trieste, Trieste, 1890 and Podestà of Oderzo in 1367.Museo opitergino, Gaetano Mantovanii, 1874 Bernardo Barbaro (c.1370) Son of Donato. Ambassador for the Doge to the Sultan of Egypt. Giovanni Barbaro (c.1380) Son of Adamo. Provveditore of the army that fought against Padua.
Francesco Barbaro (c.1398) Son of Marco. One of the founders of the Congregazione dei Canonici Secolari (Secular Canons) of San Giorgio in Alga. Francesco Barbaro (1398–1454) Son of Candiano,A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857 uncle to Ermolao Barbaro Author, diplomat, politician, and military commander. Honored for his defense of Brescia from 1432 to 1435 against the Milanese under Niccolò Piccinino. A painting on this subject by Tintoretto, La difesa di Brescia, hung in the Palazzo Ducale of Venice. . 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. Almoro Barbaro (c.1403) Son of Adamo. Captain of a galley in the victory of Carlo Zeno against the Genoese. Ermolao Barbaro (1410-1471/1474), Son of Zaccaria and nephew to Francesco Barbaro. Bishop of Treviso(1443–1453). Bishop of Verona(1453-?). Governor of Perugia. Pietro Barbaro (c.1413) Son of Donato. Ambassador to the Duke of Savoy. Nicolo Barbaro was Auditor of Pola from 1413 to 1414.Notizie storiche di Pola, Parenzo, 1876 Marco Barbaro, son of Jacopo, was Podestà of Pirano from 1419 to 1421,Atti e memorie della Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria, Volume 4, Trieste : Società Istriana di Archeologia e Storia Patria, 1996 and Ambassador to Byzantium in 1423, Podestà of Pirano from 1430 to 1431, and Captain of Grisignana from 1431 to 1437.Pagine istriane, Associazione istriana di studi e storia patria, Centro di cultura Giuliano Dalmata, Societa istriana di archeology, Trieste, 1905 Giosafat Barbaro (1413–1494) Son of Antonio. Traveled to Tana in 1436.Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, J Fr Michaud; Louis Gabriel Michaud, Paris, Michaud, 1811–28., pg. 327 In 1473, he was one of several Venetian ambassadors to Persia.Mehmed the Conqueror & His Time, Franz Babinger, Trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton University Press; 1992, p.305 Barbaro also served as Provveditore of the Army in Albania fighting with Skanderbeg against the Turks. Barbaro served as Captain of Rovigo and Provveditore of all Polesine from 1482 to 1483.Dei rettori veneziani in Rovigo: illustrazione storica con documenti, Giovanni Durazzo, Venezia, Tip. del Commercio, 1865 Barbaro wrote about his travels Nicolo Barbaro (1420–1494) Son of Marco. Wrote an eyewitness account of the Fall of Constantinople. Andréa Barbaro was Castellan of Modon and Corone from 1421 to 1423.Chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues, pub. avec notes et tables généalogiques, Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf, Weidmann, 1873