Villa Contarini

45°32′38″N 11°47′07″E / 45.543858°N 11.785262°E / 45.543858; 11.785262 (Villa Contarini)

Villa Contarini is a mostly

. The villa is spread over a 40 hectare area, with canals, and a lake. Now owned by the government of the region of Veneto, and administered through the Fondazione G. E. Ghirardi, the villa and gardens are available for touring as well as for sponsored cultural events.

History

The main building (Villa padronale) was begun in 1546 under commission by the Venetian patricians Paolo and Francesco Contarini. It appears to have been built on the plinth of an older fortress like structure. While some documents claim the original design was by Andrea Palladio, this attribution is controversial. This core of the villa has a facade, oddly out of place in this open space, resembling a Gothic canal facade in Venice. The more elaborate flanking wings were commissioned by Marco Contarini between 1671 and 1676 extended the 16th century layout, building two large loggia wings at the sides of the previous main building, which are decorated with numerous telamon sculptures, extruding from the second story pilasters. The ground floor is more rusticated. The eastern wing was completed by the 17th century, but work on the western wing continued until 1900. The interiors of the west wing, however, were frescoed in 1684 by Michele Primon. The detached Neoclassical chapel in front of the main villa was designed by Tommaso Temanza. Finally, the villa links up across the street with a large porticoed hemicycle, only half-completed. It is evident in the layout of the complex drawn by Muttoni in 1760. This piazza, known as Anfiteatro Camerini is now commonly used for large outdoor concerts.

In his description of the glory days of Venetian villas, Pompeo Molmenti mentions Villa Piazzola:^[1]

The entertainments which the patricians gave on special occasions at their country places sometimes exceeded in splendor the famous fetes in the palaces of Venice. For example ... Procurator Marco Contarini gave a series of simply amazing theatrical performances in his villa at Piazzola. In November 1679, Dr. Piccioli's drama, "Le Amazzoni nelle isole Fortunate", set to music by

Bucintoro

, on which supper was served to the sound of music; Neptune and other deities were borne about on sea monsters, from whose open mouths spurted scented waters. The splendors of the palace amazed the Duke, who paid a visit to the musical library, the collection of instruments, the Conservatory, the printing-press, the church, and the theater. At the close of a great banquet there descended from the ceiling the representation of some monster of the air; it moved its head, claws, and tail, and came forward on its wings till it reached the middle of the hall, and was "a wonderful sight to see." There was a sham naval fight, too, between the Venetian and the Turkish galleys, races of barebacked horses, concerts, balls, serenades, and other brave shows.

He goes on to depict the

; he saw me and beckoned me into the choir... with a great variety of instruments. After that two ships appeared, followed by two others covered with stucco; and they fought, and the stucco-covered ships were forced on shore. In the Bucintoro was a sunk place, very deep, all set round with an infinite display of silver bowls; in it was an orchestra of twenty-four, with trumpets and other instruments, who played up to one o'clock in the morning.

Images

• 
  Layout of the villa complex (drawing by Muttoni, 1760)
• 
  Front and section of the main building of the villa (drawing by Francesco Muttoni, 1760)
• 
  The left wing (in the background); at left, the chapel, designed by Tommaso Temanza
• 
  The barchessa (right wing)
• 
  The porticoed hemicycle of the piazza
• 
  Interiors

See also

• Palladian architecture
• Palladian villas of the Veneto

References

External links

• Villa Contarini in CISA website (source for the first revision of the historical section, with kind permission)
• Official website (in Italian) ((in English) abstract)