The story of Peggy Guggenheim and her not quite ordinary burial (8 photos)

The Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice is the only museum where the curator and her pets are buried.





Peggy Guggenheim's ashes are kept in her private palace and museum in Venice, and her companions in death are the same as in life. These are her beloved "little ones", her 14 Lhasa Apsos.



Peggy Guggenheim

Peggy Guggenheim's life and career are pivotal to the history of 20th century art, as she dedicated half of her life to protecting and preserving the art of her time. Today, one of Venice's finest museums bears her name. She was ahead of her time in her approach to collecting art and to life, and left behind an extraordinary story and a fantastic museum for Venice.





Lhasa Apso

The niece of Solomon Guggenheim, founder of the famous Guggenheim Museum, Peggy Guggenheim was perhaps the greatest collector and patron of the arts of the 20th century. She eventually opened her private collection to the public, and it soon became one of the most popular museums in Italy and the most visited in Venice.



With one of her beloved dogs

The woman bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal in Venice and opened her collection to the public in 1951. In 1976, she donated her palace and the art to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and in 1979 she died. Her ashes were placed in a corner of the garden of the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, and since then the Guggenheim Foundation has refurbished and expanded the building, turning it into one of the finest small museums of modern art in the world.



Venier dei Leoni Museum in Venice

After her death from a stroke in 1979, Peggy Guggenheim's ashes were interred in her Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, which is connected to the museum. Visitors can stop by to see a majestic plaque honoring the art lover. And the plaque next to Peggy honors those she loved most.



Guggenheim's grave with a plaque honoring her Lhasa Apso dogs

It wasn't one of her many lovers or her ex-husband, the artist Max Ernst. Peggy asked that Cappuccino, Peacock, Peguin, Thoreau, Foglia, Madama Butterfly, Baby, Emily, White Angel, Sir Herbert, Sable, Gypsy, Hong Kong, and Chellida be buried with her so that they could spend the afterlife together.





List of pets