Villa Contarini
The Villa Contarini is a Venetian patrician villa in Piazzola sul Brenta , in the province of Padua in northern Italy.
The construction of the main building began in 1546 on behalf of the Venetian patricians Paolo and Francesco Contarini . The extent to which the building was based on a design by Andrea Palladio is controversial in the history of art. In the late 17th century, the building was expanded under Marco Contarini. The villa is surrounded by a 50 hectare park.
Today the villa is a museum, a venue for exhibitions, conferences, opera performances and concerts. It is supported by a foundation.
The villa is also called Villa Contarini-Camerini-Simes after the various owners .
history
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The villa was the country residence of the Venetian family of Contarini, who over the years have turned their country residence into a prestigious building complex that magnificently reflects the economic potency, political power and historical reputation of a family from whose ranks since the 11th century eight doges had emerged.
The magnificent baroque appearance that the villa shows today goes back to extensive renovations in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1676 the right wing was extended and a row of rusticated columns was added to the facade , which are crowned with sculptures, the so-called telemons . A map from 1788 shows that the semicircular portico that encompasses the large piazza of the villa was already in place at this time.
The historical and architectural core of the building is believed to be a Carraresi castle , which was built in the 14th century on the banks of the Brenta, possibly on the remains of a previous building from the 11th century. In the 17th century, the building was extended by two side wings, and a little later work began on a representative forecourt, the piazza . The villa probably goes back to the conversion of a villa built for Paolo Contarini based on a design by Palladio (1540–1550). Traces of Palladio can be found in construction plans and archive documents, of which little is visible. For the Villa Paccagnella in Presina and other villas in the area, which are also often attributed to Palladio, research has so far not proven through reliable sources to what extent Palladio exerted direct or indirect influence as an architect and builder.
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the interior of the villa was lavishly decorated with frescoes, allegorical figures, furniture and valuable handicrafts in the taste of the Rococo and Baroque periods . The decor of the rooms is subject to a specific visual program. The sequence of countless large halls and small rooms connects a corridor 180 meters long. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the villa was a show and playground for the Venetian society, who celebrated their festivals here and attended operas and concerts organized by the Contarini.
Like most of the Terraferma's Venetian villas , it was plundered by Napoleonic troops and fell into disrepair. In 1820 - until then the villa was owned by the Contarini - it was acquired by Silvestro Camerini (1777–1866), the son of a northern Italian farm worker who had become wealthy, illiterate and holder of various awards and titles of nobility. The stables, which were used to imitate the imperial stables in Vienna, the hippodrome and a representative garden with a lake and fish ponds, avenues etc., then abandoned again, the Villa Contarini served the local population as a grain and wine store.
During the Second World War, the villa was occupied by the German Wehrmacht (bullet holes from this period are still shown today as evidence of how narrowly the villa escaped complete destruction several times). After the end of the war, the abandoned buildings fell into disrepair until the property was initially acquired by the SIMES company in the late 1970s, until it passed into the hands of GEGhirardi , who subjected the villa to a thorough renovation that has not yet been completed. It is now administered by the Istituto Regionale Ville Venete .
museum
In addition to a library, the Biblioteca Cameriniana , and an archive for the history of the Contarini-Camerini , the villa also houses a collection of old maps, a glyptotheque of Greek and Roman antiquities, a collection of casts and an Art Nouveau (Liberty) collection.
The villa can be visited daily. Congresses, meetings, exhibitions and concerts take place in the villa.
chapel
In 1770 Tommaso Temanza built a round chapel based on Andrea Palladio's Tempietto Barbaro .
Fondazione Giordano Emilio Ghirardi
Today the non-profit organization Fondazione Giordano Emilio Ghirard ONLUS has its headquarters in the villa. It has the foundation's purpose to promote cultural and social projects and works with comparable national and international institutions. One focus of the foundation is the promotion of research in the field of medicine, in particular health care.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Palladio and the Veneto: Villa Contarini , accessed on May 21, 2019
- ↑ La Storia di Castel Bolognese: Silvestro Camerini , accessed on May 21, 2019
- ^ Villa Contarini , accessed on May 21, 2019
Web links
- Villa Contarini in CISA website
- Official website (Italian / English)
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Coordinates: 45 ° 32 ′ 38.5 " N , 11 ° 47 ′ 6.6" E