On the Grand Canal, facing the Rialto Pescheria (the fish market), Palazzo Michiel dalle Colonne guards eight centuries of Venetian history: born in the 13th century as a Veneto-Byzantine residence of the Grimani, it preserves the 14th-century portico that gave it its name, while the Baroque façade with serliane (three-part windows) and stone busts is the work of Antonio Gaspari, finished in 1697 for the Zen. It hosted the last Duke of Mantua in exile and passing sovereigns; in its rooms a celebrated picture gallery was admired — from Bonifazio to Parmigianino, from Gherardo delle Notti to Schiavone — a magnificent Florentine mosaic table inlaid with hardstones and mother-of-pearl, and even the wardrobe with the vestments of the blessed Gregorio Barbarigo.