Casanova Official Museum
Between 1772 and 1798, Giacomo Casanova and patrician Pietro Zaguri exchanged about 120 letters. Begun as support for Casanova’s rehabilitation, they chronicle twenty years of friendship and serve as a “newsletter” about Venice: positions, internal tensions, social affairs and personal confessions. The reader gets an insider’s view of Venetian society at the end of the eighteenth century and the limits of private writing.
This article originates from the scientific contributions of our historians, reworked by the museum editorial staff for digital access.
Between 1772 and 1798, Giacomo Casanova and Venetian patrician Pietro Zaguri maintained a friendship documented by around 120 letters in Italian. Initiated by decisive support for Casanova’s rehabilitation, their correspondence offers an intimate testimony of Venetian society at the end of the 18th century, and reveals both the human and historical value of a bond that stayed strong even after Casanova’s final farewell to Venice.
A friendship built over time
120 letters between Venice and Europe
From rehabilitation to a personal bond
What the letters reveal: politics, society, private life
A historical source for late 18th-century Venice
After Casanova’s final departure from Venice (1783), his relationship with Pietro Zaguri continued for over twenty years through frequent correspondence. Their bond began earlier: Zaguri was already crucial in the summer of 1772, committing to Casanova’s rehabilitation.
Without knowing Casanova personally, Zaguri managed to have his exile revoked together with Marco Dandolo and Francesco Grimani, Venetian friends of Casanova. Their first direct contact happened in autumn 1772 in Trieste.
The correspondence comprises around 120 letters in Italian, dated between 1772 and 1798. The exact number remains uncertain, as some pages from the Casanovan inheritance are undated.
An important aspect concerns the transmission of the text: the entire correspondence was published in 1918 by Pompeo Molmenti in the Carteggi Casanoviani, but some parts were heavily abbreviated, altering the original.
The friendship deepened when Casanova, after returning to Venice in November 1774, stayed for a while in the Zaguri palace in Campo San Maurizio. That stay cemented a familiarity that endured even after Casanova’s final departure (1782/1783, according to the chronology cited in the text).
In Zaguri’s house, Casanova likely also met Lorenzo da Ponte, who was for a time secretary and “study companion” to Zaguri, as he recounts in his memoirs.
Zaguri regularly updated Casanova on Venetian news: elections and patrician appointments, internal disputes, social gossip. They shared acquaintances and common references: Zaguri also knew Casanova’s brother, Francesco, a battle painter.
Zaguri’s letters are not short on sharp opinions: patricians, cicisbei, women of easy virtue, and even Lorenzo da Ponte (whom Zaguri eventually expelled from his home). This candor makes the correspondence a vivid and “inside” source on Venetian society.
Beyond public life, intimate details emerge: relationships with women and health issues. Zaguri talks about gout and problems with his teeth, gums, ears; he responds with indignation to Casanova’s difficulties with the staff at Dux castle.
Zaguri himself recognizes the danger of certain confidences: he warns Casanova not to circulate the letters, as they may contain passages “escaped the pen” that could return to Venice.
The correspondence between Casanova and Zaguri is more than a personal document: it is a direct testimony of Venice at the end of the 18th century, seen from within and told in an intimate, sometimes biting tone.
In this sense, the letters do not merely describe individuals, but convey the atmosphere of a world heading towards irreversible change.
Pietro Zaguri was a Venetian patrician who supported Casanova’s rehabilitation, helping to revoke his exile. This gesture sparked a relationship that developed into friendship and was reinforced by meetings and correspondence.
The correspondence includes about 120 letters written in Italian and dated between 1772 and 1798. The exact number remains uncertain because some pages from Casanova’s estate do not have a precise date.
The letters combine news from Venice, internal politics, elections and social gossip with private details about health and relationships. This combination gives an insider’s portrait of Venice at the end of the eighteenth century.
Zaguri admits that some confidences are risky and urges Casanova not to circulate the letters. His awareness of what might ‘escape the pen’ shows how the written word could have social consequences in Venice.
In 1918, Pompeo Molmenti published the entire correspondence in the Carteggi Casanoviani, but in several passages he made significant cuts. This can alter nuances and context, making it necessary to consider the editorial intervention.
This article originates from the scientific contributions of our historians, reworked by the museum editorial staff for digital access.
Between 1772 and 1798, Giacomo Casanova and Venetian patrician Pietro Zaguri maintained a friendship documented by around 120 letters in Italian. Initiated by decisive support for Casanova’s rehabilitation, their correspondence offers an intimate testimony of Venetian society at the end of the 18th century, and reveals both the human and historical value of a bond that stayed strong even after Casanova’s final farewell to Venice.
A friendship built over time
120 letters between Venice and Europe
From rehabilitation to a personal bond
What the letters reveal: politics, society, private life
A historical source for late 18th-century Venice
After Casanova’s final departure from Venice (1783), his relationship with Pietro Zaguri continued for over twenty years through frequent correspondence. Their bond began earlier: Zaguri was already crucial in the summer of 1772, committing to Casanova’s rehabilitation.
Without knowing Casanova personally, Zaguri managed to have his exile revoked together with Marco Dandolo and Francesco Grimani, Venetian friends of Casanova. Their first direct contact happened in autumn 1772 in Trieste.
The correspondence comprises around 120 letters in Italian, dated between 1772 and 1798. The exact number remains uncertain, as some pages from the Casanovan inheritance are undated.
An important aspect concerns the transmission of the text: the entire correspondence was published in 1918 by Pompeo Molmenti in the Carteggi Casanoviani, but some parts were heavily abbreviated, altering the original.
The friendship deepened when Casanova, after returning to Venice in November 1774, stayed for a while in the Zaguri palace in Campo San Maurizio. That stay cemented a familiarity that endured even after Casanova’s final departure (1782/1783, according to the chronology cited in the text).
In Zaguri’s house, Casanova likely also met Lorenzo da Ponte, who was for a time secretary and “study companion” to Zaguri, as he recounts in his memoirs.
Zaguri regularly updated Casanova on Venetian news: elections and patrician appointments, internal disputes, social gossip. They shared acquaintances and common references: Zaguri also knew Casanova’s brother, Francesco, a battle painter.
Zaguri’s letters are not short on sharp opinions: patricians, cicisbei, women of easy virtue, and even Lorenzo da Ponte (whom Zaguri eventually expelled from his home). This candor makes the correspondence a vivid and “inside” source on Venetian society.
Beyond public life, intimate details emerge: relationships with women and health issues. Zaguri talks about gout and problems with his teeth, gums, ears; he responds with indignation to Casanova’s difficulties with the staff at Dux castle.
Zaguri himself recognizes the danger of certain confidences: he warns Casanova not to circulate the letters, as they may contain passages “escaped the pen” that could return to Venice.
The correspondence between Casanova and Zaguri is more than a personal document: it is a direct testimony of Venice at the end of the 18th century, seen from within and told in an intimate, sometimes biting tone.
In this sense, the letters do not merely describe individuals, but convey the atmosphere of a world heading towards irreversible change.
Want to discover the palace where Casanova actually lived? Visit the permanent museum dedicated to Giacomo Casanova at Palazzo Zaguri.
