Villa Pisani, Stra
Location | Via Doge Pisani 7 – 30039 Stra (Province of Venice), Italy |
---|---|
Coordinates | 45°24′31″N 12°00′45″E / 45.408503°N 12.012392°E |
Type | Art, architecture, furniture |
Director | Arch. Giuseppe Rallo |
Public transit access | Linea 53E Actv |
Website | villapisani |
Villa Pisani at Stra refers to the monumental, late-Baroque rural palace located along the Brenta Canal (Riviera del Brenta) at Via Doge Pisani 7 near the town of Stra, on the mainland of the Veneto, northern Italy. This villa is one of the largest examples of Villa Veneta located in the Riviera del Brenta, the canal linking Venice to Padua. The patrician Pisani family of Venice commissioned a number of villas, also known as Villa Pisani across the Venetian mainland. The villa and gardens now operate as a national museum, and the site sponsors art exhibitions.
History
Construction of the palace commenced in the early 18th century for
In 1807, it was bought by Napoleon from the Pisani family, now in poverty due to great losses in gambling. In 1814, the building became the property of the House of Habsburg who transformed the villa into a place of vacation for the European aristocracy of that period. After 1866 the villa became the property of the House of Savoy, who in 1882 transferred it to the Italian state. In 1934, it was partially restored to host the first meeting of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.[1]
Architecture
From the outside, the façade of the oversized palace appears to command the site, facing the
The largest room is the ballroom, where the 18th-century painter
The "most riotously splendid"[3] Tiepolo ceiling would influence his later depiction of the Glory of Spain for the throne room of the Royal Palace of Madrid; however, the grandeur and bombastic ambitions of the ceiling now contrast with the mainly uninhabited shell of a palace. The remainder of its nearly 100 rooms are now empty. The Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni described the palace in its day as a place of "great fun, served meals, dance and shows".[4]
-
The well in the inner courtyard
-
False façade and stables
-
The reflecting pond
-
Façade
-
Statuary at Villa Pisani
-
The Apotheosis of the Pisani family
-
Fresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Exhibitions
There are often exhibitions of ancient, modern and contemporary art. The halls host 150,000 visitors a year. In 2007, the villa hosted the exhibitions "I classici del contemporaneo" and "Extradimensionism" by Paolo Aldighieri.[5] In 2008, there was an important exhibition by Mimmo Paladino, followed in 2009 by "Impressionismo a Venezia, 1879–1933" by Emma Ciardi. In 2011, "Tutto score" by Oliviero Rainaldi was held at the villa.[6]
See also
- List of Baroque residences
- Palladian Villas of the Veneto
- Riviera del Brenta (The Brenta river)
References
- ^ Sakalis, Alex (9 August 2023). "7 Highlights of the Brenta Riviera". Italy Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ Villa Pisani
- ^ Edith Wharton in Italian Villas and their Gardens, page 244.
- ^ Villa Pisani National Museum website.
- ^ ArteIn, 110, August–September 2007, "Il cuore nella roccia" ,p. 31
- ^ "Le Grandi Mostre - Villa Pisani Museo Nazionale - la regina delle Ville Venete".
External links
- Official site of the Villa Pisani (in English and Italian)
- Giambattista Tiepolo, 1696–1770, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Villa Pisani