FT Weekend 21 August 2004
Home to the merchants of Venice
Catherine Moye
...A palazzo [in Venice] represents fabric of near-mythic luxury and status. This was true in 1665, when the Van Axels, rich Flemish textile merchants, celebrated becoming the only foreigners admitted to the Venetian aristocracy by purchasing one. And it is still true today, as the same palazzo - still bearing the family name - goes on the market...
