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Villa dei Vescovi (Bishops' Villa) was erected for the bishopric of Padua between 1535 and 1542, on an embankment in the Colli Euganei. In order to provide the resident bishop with a sumptuous vacation home.
The construction of the edifice was entrusted to a nobleman, Alvise Cornaro, a church administrator and an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign to reclaim the interior of the Veneto Region's countryside as well as of that most noble of man's labours, the source of well-being and longevity, which he termed "holy agriculture".
An amateur architect and Roman archaeologist, Cornaro has designed and realised a classical Loggia and an Odeon (a square structure emulating a specific building in ancient Rome) on his property in Padua. In both cases, he enlisted the assistance of the painter-architect Giovanni Maria Falconetto (Verona 1468 - Padua 1535), who accompanied him on archaeological trips to Rome and is responsible for the first design of the Villa di Luvigliano. In the original version the Villa was composed of a compact parallelepiped with a square base, made less severe by two open Porticoes on either side of the second floor, looking out on the surrounding countryside. For the interior, the sixteenth-century designs included a central hall on the ground floor, overlooked by a court on the main floor. The structure departed from the local construction canons, drawing its inspiration from the contemporary Florentine palazzos, or even the design of a classical Roman villa, in anticipation of the incipient Palladian style.
The classical influence was in harmony with a more ample political programme to transform the territory, with the intention of underscoring Padua's Roman origins. In fact, the name Luvigliano is derived from Livianum, the name of the site where it is presumed that Titus Livius planned to build his country villa.
As an integrated whole, therefore, Villa dei Vescovi is an extraordinarily valuable architectural document, a unique example in its regional context, offering important insights into the evanescent artistic milieu that preceded the magnificence and acclaim of the Palladian period.
In 1960s Vittorio Olcese buys the monument from the local church government in order to restore it and bring it back to life.
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(Ph. © Archivio FAI) |
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However, significant volumetric interventions modified Falconetto's original plan. In around the end of the 1570s, two monumental Staircases were added to the sides with the Porticoes, thus providing a direct connection between the formal reception level, on the second floor, and the Gardens. Finally, towards the end of the eighteenth century, the central Court was roofed over and an ample Hall was created in its place, bordering on the two façades and their respective porticoes.
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 (Ph. © Archivio FAI) |
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Among the architects who followed Falconetto, besides a possible intervention by Giulio Romano on the ashlar work on the ground floor, there is confirmed work by the Istrian architect Andrea da Valle (? - 1577) on the realisation of an exterior courtyard and the high boundary walls, with three imposing portals.
Vincenzo Scamozzi (Vicenza 1552 - Venice 1616) is instead responsible for the east staircase, as well as the Neptune Fountain and Grotto (later destroyed) that were originally included in the work.
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(Ph. © Archivio FAI) |
Conceived from the very beginning as city palazzo, intended as a meeting-place for intellectuals and humanist groups, this imposing residence has endured to the present day in extraordinarily intact conditions, still in harmonious co-existence with its surroundings, just as it was centuries ago.
The same communion between man and nature can be found in the Villa's interiors, illustrated by the extensive cycle of frescoes executed between 1542 and 1548 by the artist Lambert Sustris (Amsterdam 1515 ca. - 1584 ca.). Having come to Venice to work with Titian, the Flemish painter was subsequently exposed to the classical style championed by Raphael in Rome. And it is in terms of the central-Italian style that the "old-style" figures in the central Hall should be interpreted, along with the conventional assortment of trophies and frames (quadrature).
The pleasant landscapes adorning the walls of the porticoes indicate a lively and vibrant relationship with the environment, making the architecture disappear and blending perfectly with the colours and shapes of the miraculously intact surrounding countryside.
It was this selfsame attention to the beauty of the countryside and appreciation for the nature of the place that inspired the original construction, by Cornaro, who had often written of the agricultural life and the beauty and charm of the farmlands in the interior of the Venetian
Republic's territory.
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VILLA DEI VESCOVI, Luvigliano di Torreglia (Padova)
FAI MANAGEMENT & OFFICES - Properties Office
Ph. +39 02 467615296 / Fax +39 02 467615269 / E-mail: proprieta@fondoambiente.it
Opening Times
The villa is current being refurbished. It is expected to re-open to the public in Spring 2011
FURTHER INFORMATION >>
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