The loggia
As Andrea Palladio mentions in his treatise The Four Books of Architecture (1570), in the context of the “Veneto villa” the loggia was the quintessential location to welcome guests, an ideal setting where summer banquets, concerts, and other leisure activities could be held.
The room’s decorations are divided into two levels: the lower section consists of a mock open gallery resting on a balustrade, comprised of faux porphyry columns supporting an entablature with metopes and triglyphs, displaying alternating bucrania and monochrome figurines. The balcony loggia painted on the second level, on the other hand, offers a dizzying breaching of prospective: the mighty, twisted, twin Ionic columns mark the scope of the faux cross vaults, themselves open in turn, and decorated with animated grotesque-style motifs. Looking out of the balustrade are representations of musicians, domestic staff, and bystanders, but also exotic animals accompanying some characters (such as the fowler) which allude to the productive and leisurely activities typical of life at the villa.
Among the characters it is possible to recognize some faces, which most likely belonged to members of the owner family. Other characters appear to be attributable to pictorial interventions carried out after the first decorative phase, perhaps as a result of damage caused by the humidity typical of an external environment.
The fictive open gallery ends on an architrave made up of modillions alternating with rosette ceiling coffers. Above the architectural profile of the ceiling, underlined by a gilded frame, is an oculus, flanked by two rectangular squares. These spaces once housed three deities or allegories against a background made of sky and clouds.
On the sides of the windows flanking the entrance to the Hall, enclosed between the porphyry columns, there are two figures holding old-fashioned weapons, who seem to be advancing towards visitors as if they were the house’s first line of defence. The leftmost figure can be identified as Mars, the god of war and duels – also invoked, however, as protector of fields and crops in the De agri cultura by famous Ancient Roman politician and writer, Marcus Porcius Cato. Minerva, the deity of rational wisdom and the virtues of just and “pacifying” war, appears on the right-hand side instead.
The goddess wears, according to classical iconography, a helmet and armour over a long chiton, and holds a spear and the shield on which is depicted the head of the Gorgon Medusa.
The complex meaning of the entire cycle, including western and eastern walls, touches on crucial themes related to political activity and to the Glory of Venice, but also to scientific and humanistic areas of interest, as well as to the prosperousness and delights offered by life at the villa.
The best preserved and most impressive element is undoubtedly the upper loggia’s trompe-l’oeil, with the brilliant musicians and singers concert scene, who appear to welcome all approaching guests. (Barbara Maria Savy, Sara Danese | trad. Anna Dal Pont, Sarah Ferrari)
Credits
© Comune di Abano Terme e Università degli Studi di Padova, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: archeologia, storia dell’arte, del cinema e della musica (foto Michele Barollo e Simone Citon)
As Andrea Palladio mentions in his treatise The Four Books of Architecture (1570), in the context of the “Veneto villa” the loggia was the quintessential location to welcome guests, an ideal setting where summer banquets, concerts, and other leisure activities could be held.
The room’s decorations are divided into two levels: the lower section consists of a mock open gallery resting on a balustrade, comprised of faux porphyry columns supporting an entablature with metopes and triglyphs, displaying alternating bucrania and monochrome figurines. The balcony loggia painted on the second level, on the other hand, offers a dizzying breaching of prospective: the mighty, twisted, twin Ionic columns mark the scope of the faux cross vaults, themselves open in turn, and decorated with animated grotesque-style motifs. Looking out of the balustrade are representations of musicians, domestic staff, and bystanders, but also exotic animals accompanying some characters (such as the fowler) which allude to the productive and leisurely activities typical of life at the villa.
Among the characters it is possible to recognize some faces, which most likely belonged to members of the owner family. Other characters appear to be attributable to pictorial interventions carried out after the first decorative phase, perhaps as a result of damage caused by the humidity typical of an external environment.
The fictive open gallery ends on an architrave made up of modillions alternating with rosette ceiling coffers. Above the architectural profile of the ceiling, underlined by a gilded frame, is an oculus, flanked by two rectangular squares. These spaces once housed three deities or allegories against a background made of sky and clouds.
On the sides of the windows flanking the entrance to the Hall, enclosed between the porphyry columns, there are two figures holding old-fashioned weapons, who seem to be advancing towards visitors as if they were the house’s first line of defence. The leftmost figure can be identified as Mars, the god of war and duels – also invoked, however, as protector of fields and crops in the De agri cultura by famous Ancient Roman politician and writer, Marcus Porcius Cato. Minerva, the deity of rational wisdom and the virtues of just and “pacifying” war, appears on the right-hand side instead. The goddess wears, according to classical iconography, a helmet and armour over a long chiton, and holds a spear and the shield on which is depicted the head of the Gorgon Medusa.
The complex meaning of the entire cycle, including western and eastern walls, touches on crucial themes related to political activity and to the Glory of Venice, but also to scientific and humanistic areas of interest, as well as to the prosperousness and delights offered by life at the villa.
The best preserved and most impressive element is undoubtedly the upper loggia’s trompe-l’oeil, with the brilliant musicians and singers concert scene, who appear to welcome all approaching guests. (Barbara Maria Savy, Sara Danese | trad. Anna Dal Pont, Sarah Ferrari)
Credits
© Comune di Abano Terme e Università degli Studi di Padova, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: archeologia, storia dell’arte, del cinema e della musica (foto Michele Barollo e Simone Citon)
