Villa Bassi Rathgeb (formerly Secco, Dondi dall’Orologio, and Zasio) is a classic “Venetian Villa” – a place that combined agricultural activity with the classical ideal of a healthy, virtuous lifestyle characterized by leisure for its owners.
Giovanni Antonio Secco, a doctor of Crema origins, began construction of the first core of the villa between 1566 and 1576, starting from a pre-existing rural building.
This transformation from a “small country house” to a “grand residence” turned the villa, as shown in an ancient drawing, into a two-story building with a three-arch loggia (still visible today) and two towers positioned at the lateral extremities, as well as service rooms connected to the main house. In front of the building was a garden, as exists today, while behind were a fenced vegetable garden and an orchard.
In 1769, the villa passed to brothers Giovanni Antonio and Francesco of the patrician Dondi dall’Orologio family, who invested substantially to adapt the building to the taste of the time, both architecturally and decoratively. The polychrome stuccos and anthropomorphic figures that characterize the entire raised ground floor were created during this phase. This renovation sacrificed the sixteenth-century fresco cycle, which was covered with stucco.
From the Dondi family, the villa passed in 1792 to the Camposampiero family, who still owned it in 1822. In 1846, it was purchased by the Zasio family from Feltre, who maintained it until the 1970s. The property was finally acquired by the Municipality of Abano Terme around the same time it received a precious art collection bequeathed by Roberto Bassi Rathgeb (Bergamo 1911 – Padua 1972). The villa was therefore named after the donor, and starting in the 1990s, its recovery began with the restoration of the interior decoration to house the collection and transform it into a cultural center for citizens.
Paintings, drawings, engravings, miniatures, archaeological finds, ancient armor, objects, and furnishings, donated to the Municipality of Abano forty years ago by Roberto Bassi Rathgeb.
The decoration reflects the function of this space, typically intended – as Palladio noted – for welcoming guests, strolling, and dining. The trompe l’oeil architecture amplifies the motif of the arcades and simulates a second loggia in strong foreshortening, from which servants and musicians look out, performing an ideal welcome concert. The other scenes and allegorical figures invite viewers to flee the violence of war and to prefer activities such as the study of sciences and arts.
The interpretation of the hall’s frescoes is partially compromised by chipping caused by the application of stuccos (now removed) in the second half of the 18th century.
The figurative episodes, enclosed by fake fluted Ionic columns resting on a marble base, have recently been identified as depicting the myth of Scylla, daughter of Nisus king of Megara, whose unfortunate story is narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. The panels above the doors, according to an 18th-century source, represented the four parts of the day: the Aurora on a chariot drawn by roosters and scattering flowers, and the chariot of the Sun drawn by four horses can still be seen.
Within airy landscapes, the protagonists of the Ovidian myth of Mercury and Argus can be recognized in the panels on the walls. Classical imagery is thus evoked through ancient “fables” that suggest allegorical and intellectual meanings. The landscape, inhabited by ruins, castles, and cities, is a common motif in the iconology of the Venetian villa, just as the presence of a servant entering through a door references similar figures in villa decoration.
The room takes its name from the famous Ovidian myth represented on one of the walls, where the nymph Daphne escapes Apollo’s advances at the end of a long chase, transforming through divine intervention into a laurel tree.
The frescoes in this room address the theme of fidelity through the story of the spouses Cephalus and Procris, whose love was disturbed by mutual infidelity. From the myth, taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the moments of seduction, deception, and tragedy are depicted here. The epilogue shows the young man’s despair upon discovering that he had accidentally killed his wife who, out of jealousy, had secretly followed him during a hunting expedition.
Among the gilded caryatids that frame the architectural quadrature are several hunting scenes. The choice of theme evokes one of the typical activities carried out in the villa setting, where the owner would stay for long periods, leading a lifestyle marked by aristocratic pastimes and intellectual otium (leisure). This is also alluded to by the three allegories depicted in the niches: Joy, Reward, and Intellect.
The decoration of this room, which owes its name to the biblical episodes depicted here, is of a later period and differs both stylistically and thematically. The frescoes were created around or after the mid-17th century: below a frieze interspersed with trompe l’oeil draperies hosting cameos with allegorical figures and mythological episodes, three scenes from Genesis are depicted within golden frames supported by putti and sphinxes.
The current oratory, erected in the 18th century at the behest of owner Giovanni Antonio Dondi dall’Orologio, is located in the southwest corner of the villa. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Loreto, it was built as a reproduction of the Sanctuary of the Holy House, precisely replicating its form and dimensions.
Inside are religious frescoes attributed to Antonio Buttafogo. On the left wall is a slit carved into the thickness of the wall: the blade of light that enters through it strikes the altar area every December 10th, the feast of the translation of the Holy House, just as it did in the past.
Villa Bassi Rathgeb (formerly Secco, Dondi dall’Orologio, and Zasio) is a classic “Venetian Villa” – a place that combined agricultural activity with the classical ideal of a healthy, virtuous lifestyle characterized by leisure for its owners.
Giovanni Antonio Secco, a doctor of Crema origins, began construction of the first core of the villa between 1566 and 1576, starting from a pre-existing rural building.
This transformation from a “small country house” to a “grand residence” turned the villa, as shown in an ancient drawing, into a two-story building with a three-arch loggia (still visible today) and two towers positioned at the lateral extremities, as well as service rooms connected to the main house. In front of the building was a garden, as exists today, while behind were a fenced vegetable garden and an orchard.
In 1769, the villa passed to brothers Giovanni Antonio and Francesco of the patrician Dondi dall’Orologio family, who invested substantially to adapt the building to the taste of the time, both architecturally and decoratively. The polychrome stuccos and anthropomorphic figures that characterize the entire raised ground floor were created during this phase. This renovation sacrificed the sixteenth-century fresco cycle, which was covered with stucco.
From the Dondi family, the villa passed in 1792 to the Camposampiero family, who still owned it in 1822. In 1846, it was purchased by the Zasio family from Feltre, who maintained it until the 1970s. The property was finally acquired by the Municipality of Abano Terme around the same time it received a precious art collection bequeathed by Roberto Bassi Rathgeb (Bergamo 1911 – Padua 1972). The villa was therefore named after the donor, and starting in the 1990s, its recovery began with the restoration of the interior decoration to house the collection and transform it into a cultural center for citizens.
Paintings, drawings, engravings, miniatures, archaeological finds, ancient armor, objects, and furnishings, donated to the Municipality of Abano forty years ago by Roberto Bassi Rathgeb.
The decoration reflects the function of this space, typically intended – as Palladio noted – for welcoming guests, strolling, and dining. The trompe l’oeil architecture amplifies the motif of the arcades and simulates a second loggia in strong foreshortening, from which servants and musicians look out, performing an ideal welcome concert. The other scenes and allegorical figures invite viewers to flee the violence of war and to prefer activities such as the study of sciences and arts.
The interpretation of the hall’s frescoes is partially compromised by chipping caused by the application of stuccos (now removed) in the second half of the 18th century.
The figurative episodes, enclosed by fake fluted Ionic columns resting on a marble base, have recently been identified as depicting the myth of Scylla, daughter of Nisus king of Megara, whose unfortunate story is narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. The panels above the doors, according to an 18th-century source, represented the four parts of the day: the Aurora on a chariot drawn by roosters and scattering flowers, and the chariot of the Sun drawn by four horses can still be seen.
Within airy landscapes, the protagonists of the Ovidian myth of Mercury and Argus can be recognized in the panels on the walls. Classical imagery is thus evoked through ancient “fables” that suggest allegorical and intellectual meanings. The landscape, inhabited by ruins, castles, and cities, is a common motif in the iconology of the Venetian villa, just as the presence of a servant entering through a door references similar figures in villa decoration.
The room takes its name from the famous Ovidian myth represented on one of the walls, where the nymph Daphne escapes Apollo’s advances at the end of a long chase, transforming through divine intervention into a laurel tree.
The frescoes in this room address the theme of fidelity through the story of the spouses Cephalus and Procris, whose love was disturbed by mutual infidelity. From the myth, taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the moments of seduction, deception, and tragedy are depicted here. The epilogue shows the young man’s despair upon discovering that he had accidentally killed his wife who, out of jealousy, had secretly followed him during a hunting expedition.
Among the gilded caryatids that frame the architectural quadrature are several hunting scenes. The choice of theme evokes one of the typical activities carried out in the villa setting, where the owner would stay for long periods, leading a lifestyle marked by aristocratic pastimes and intellectual otium (leisure). This is also alluded to by the three allegories depicted in the niches: Joy, Reward, and Intellect.
The decoration of this room, which owes its name to the biblical episodes depicted here, is of a later period and differs both stylistically and thematically. The frescoes were created around or after the mid-17th century: below a frieze interspersed with trompe l’oeil draperies hosting cameos with allegorical figures and mythological episodes, three scenes from Genesis are depicted within golden frames supported by putti and sphinxes.
The current oratory, erected in the 18th century at the behest of owner Giovanni Antonio Dondi dall’Orologio, is located in the southwest corner of the villa. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Loreto, it was built as a reproduction of the Sanctuary of the Holy House, precisely replicating its form and dimensions.
Inside are religious frescoes attributed to Antonio Buttafogo. On the left wall is a slit carved into the thickness of the wall: the blade of light that enters through it strikes the altar area every December 10th, the feast of the translation of the Holy House, just as it did in the past.
