[3] A latecomer among the palaces on the Grand Canal of Venice, Palazzo Grassi has an academic classical style that is in contrast to the surrounding Byzantine Romanesque and Baroque Venetian palazzi.

The main stairwell is frescoed by Michelangelo Morlaiter and Francesco Zanchi, and the ceilings are decorated by the artists Giambattista Canal and Christian Griepenkerl.

The Palazzo Grassi was the last palace to be built on the Grand Canal before the fall of the Venetian Republic,[4] and the largest-sited.

[4] The Palazzo was purchased by the Fiat Group in 1983, under the late chairman Gianni Agnelli, and it underwent a complete restoration overseen by architect Gae Aulenti.

The group's aim was to transform Palazzo Grassi into an exhibition hall for the visual arts.

[3] In May 2005, the French entrepreneur François Pinault bought the Palazzo Grassi for 29 million euros.

[6][7] In 2007, François Pinault acquired the Punta della Dogana to transform it into a contemporary art museum paired with the Palazzo Grassi.