Attributed by Coronelli to Jacopo Sansovino, it was actually built in 1614-15 when Sansovino had been dead for over 40 years.  The project seems to have been by Alvise Pisani, assisted by the architect Bortolo da Venezia, known as "il Manopola", who was proto at San Marco in those years.  In the following century the building was enlarged, a second floor was added, the serliana of the large dormer was incorporated into the other elements of the attic, and the building was enlarged towards the Grand Canal.  The renovation was entrusted to Girolamo Frigimelica, architect of the Pisani family, the same one who built the imposing Villa Pisani in Stra.  The purpose of the construction was eminently celebratory: the noble Pisani family, at the time one of the richest in the city, wanted a building worthy of their grandeur, gradually making their way through the neighboring houses to reach the Grand Canal.  Famous people, kings and princes stayed here: the chronicles speak of the magnificence of the furnishings and decorations, of the gallery full of paintings by the most famous painters.  The huge facade of the building, criticized by some for its ostentation, is enlivened by two large arches above the entrance door.  The threshold is guarded, emblematically, by two groups of statues from the early seventeenth century, the work of Girolamo Campagna, which represent the first and last of the twelve labors of Hercules: the killing of the Nemean lion and the capture of the triceps dog Ades.  In the atrium it is possible to admire the fanò, a large lantern with three lights that stood on the stern castle of the galley of Andrea Pisani, admiral of the Venetian fleet (captain general from sea), then you can see some wooden benches with the rampant lion, coat of arms of the family.  Still on the ground floor, you can admire the two suggestive courtyards, interspersed with overlapping loggias, the work of Frigimelica, an acute interpreter of seventeenth-century architecture, who was able to give the renovated structure of the building a touch of elegance even in details such as the capitals of the columns, and in the skilful play of light and shadow that enlivens the internal facades.  The portego, hall on the first noble floor, which goes from the campo to the Rio del Santissimo, once housed the portraits of the most illustrious personalities of the Pisani family;  now only the portraits of Andrea remain, the captain general of the sea who died in 1618 and that of Alvise (1618-79), procurator of San Marco and art collector.  The other portraits have been replaced with paintings from the Gallerie dell'Accademia.  Also in the porch you can admire the large putti above the doors, attributed to Abbondio Stazio, the most famous Venetian plasterer of the eighteenth century.  On the other side of the porch was the Gallery, where the greatest number of Pisani paintings were gathered;  from an inventory made in 1809 there are 159 paintings, the work of the major Venetian painters of the sixteenth century: Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Palma il Vecchio and many others.  Unfortunately due to the rapid decline of the family, forced to sell Palazzetto Pisani in 1816 to meet debts, most of the works of art were sold, including the painting by Antonio Pellegrini on the ceiling of the ballroom, now the hall of Conservatory concerts.  However, many treasures remain to be admired: the paintings on the ceilings, the stuccos, the chapel on the first noble floor, the inlaid doors on the second noble floor, just to name a few.  Between 1897 and 1921 the Municipality of Venice progressively became the sole owner of the building which first housed the Benedetto Marcello Music Society High School, in the wing overlooking the second courtyard, until 1940 when the building was reserved for exclusive to the Conservatory.