Portrait of a lady, bust-length, in a blue dress and lace shawl

The Palazzo Labia, on the Grand Canal in Venice, was built in the late 17th and early 18th century, for the Labia family and is known for its frescoes by Tiepolo and for it's great owner of the twentieth century, Charles de Beistegui. De Beistegui (1895-1970), the heir to a Mexican silver fortune, was one of the most celebrated society figures and taste-makers of the twentieth Century, and was equally famous for his legendary parties (such as 'Le Bal Oriental’ held at the Palazzo Labia in Venice in 1951) as for the extraordinary interiors he created at his many residences, including the Palazzo Labia, before the collection's dispersal in 1964.