Only the saint, referring to Seven books on architecture Sebastiano Serliopersonally participated in the work on the creation of this patrician residence in the area Locknext to the field Santa Maria Formosj. Activities factorymuch desired by the heirs, began in 1532 and ended in 1569: the result combines and mixes elements of the Venetian and Tuscan-Roman tradition, then in the avant-garde, the choice is clearly shown in the wonderful pictorial decorations of the stairs and from the ground floor rooms where artists such as Francesco Salviati, Giovanni da Udine, Federico Zuccari, Lambert Sustris and Camillo Mantovano. All this made the palace a princely residence, with pastel floors, rich Pompeian chromatisms, precious polychrome marbles, magnificently frescoed vaults. Unique for lagoon city, comparable only to the square Saint Mark.
A separate discussion deserves the personal history of Giovanni, undoubtedly one of the leading representatives of the Renaissance culture. The most serene. Ambitious and cultured, the patriarch did not hesitate to become a cardinal: the very external features of the residence speak of his desire to play an important role between Venice and Romeat the economic and political level. His ecclesiastical career slowed down dramatically in 1546 due to an episode that proved fatal. The accusation of heresy, against which he personally defended himself at Council of Trent, forever excluded him from the nomenclature of the Vatican. Despite his innocence, Grimani never succeeded in obtaining the purple of a cardinal.