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Palazzo Averoldi
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Palazzo Averoldi
Palazzo Averoldi is a historic building in Brescia located on Via Moretto at number 12. It was built starting in the 16th century in the middle of the southern historic center, in what was once the so-called Quadra di San Giovanni.
Built at the behest of the powerful and influential Averoldi family, the aristocratic palace represents one of the greatest examples of Brescian artistic production in the civic sphere and contains, in its rooms and interior halls, important decorations and frescoes from the 16th-century period by painters such as Romanino and Lattanzio Gambara, two of the major protagonists of Brescian art during the period between Renaissance and Mannerism.
Toward the end of the 15th century, Giovan Paolo Averoldi, "a most virtuous and devout man," purchased several pieces of land from the Porcellaga family in the vicinity of the city walls, in the then Contrada di Santa Croce, also known as Contrada del Bue, or even "della fontana del bò." He, in doing so, separated himself from the other branches of the family, all of whom lived near what is known in modern times as Via Marsala and was once called Contrada di Monzia; Giovan Paolo himself chose as the area to build his palace the fifth Quadra di San Giovanni, a sector of the city also known as Borgo San Nazaro. The area, which took its name from the nearby San Nazaro gate and was then characterized by a strong artisan tradition, was precisely in the vicinity of the walls and constituted, among other things, a privileged access point for those entering Brescia through the city walls.
Construction of the noble palace, nevertheless, began only from 1544 onward. It was the four sons of the aforementioned Giovan Paolo Averoldi who initiated the construction of the mansion: Giovan Andrea, Leandro, Mario, and Fulgenzio, on the aforementioned date, entered into a contract with the Bergamasque architects and military engineers Pietro Isabello and his son Marcantonio; the two designers were commissioned both to design the new mansion from scratch and to adapt the pre-existing hovels and buildings in the area of the service courtyard. It is highly probable, moreover, that the work was conducted rather expeditiously, also by virtue of the fact that, again according to the terms of the stipulated contract, the fee would not be rendered unless certain timelines of the construction site were met.
A few months after the contract was signed, Giovan Andrea Averoldi, speaking also on behalf of the other three brothers, approached the city council to request the cession of another public area, so that they could "make a building which is well designed and built according to the canons of architecture"; in return, part of their property was ceded by the Averoldi family to both the south and the north, so that the adjacent public road could be widened.
The eastern wing of the palace was built with a certain celerity, since, only six months after the beginning of the work, it was already completed. Proof of this is the testimony provided by the Augustinian nuns of the neighboring monastery of Santa Croce: the latter, precisely as a result of the construction of the aforementioned wing of the palace, asked the city council for permission to raise the perimeter wall of their building further, so that they could not be seen from the windows of the palace. Work on the building, in any case, did not proceed very expeditiously: the testimony of Leandro Averoldi, dating back to 1548, reports that it was still necessary to incur substantial expenses to finish its construction; twenty years later, it is even said that there was "more than half of it still to be built."
Nevertheless, at the end of the eighteenth century, the palace and in particular the noble floor were affected by a new phase of building and artistic commissions: at the behest of the brothers Giuseppe and Faustino Chizzola, then owners of the property, the architect Giovanni Donegani and artists such as Giuseppe Manfredini, Giuseppe Teosa, as well as ornamentalists such as Saverio Gandini, Francesco Tellaroli and Ferdinando Pellizzari were commissioned. The rooms were frescoed between 1788 and 1796 and feature, on the whole, a reworking in a pre-Romantic style of seventeenth-century themes, also taking up motifs and stylistic features of classical art.
As the construction of Palazzo Averoldi protracted for a long time, it is not easy to reconstruct both the original appearance of the building and the various interventions made over the centuries. Nevertheless, the plan layout of the mansion is a unique case in the panorama of the city's aristocratic residences, since it presents a U-shaped plan, with the front courtyard open to the south. Equally unusual is the fact that the entrance from the north leads directly into the service courtyard, originally equipped with stables, barns and sheds and consisting of rustic masonry; a further unusual element is the lack, in the aristocratic palace itself, of a main facade.
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Palazzo Averoldi
Palazzo Averoldi is a historic building in Brescia located on Via Moretto at number 12. It was built starting in the 16th century in the middle of the southern historic center, in what was once the so-called Quadra di San Giovanni.
Built at the behest of the powerful and influential Averoldi family, the aristocratic palace represents one of the greatest examples of Brescian artistic production in the civic sphere and contains, in its rooms and interior halls, important decorations and frescoes from the 16th-century period by painters such as Romanino and Lattanzio Gambara, two of the major protagonists of Brescian art during the period between Renaissance and Mannerism.
Toward the end of the 15th century, Giovan Paolo Averoldi, "a most virtuous and devout man," purchased several pieces of land from the Porcellaga family in the vicinity of the city walls, in the then Contrada di Santa Croce, also known as Contrada del Bue, or even "della fontana del bò." He, in doing so, separated himself from the other branches of the family, all of whom lived near what is known in modern times as Via Marsala and was once called Contrada di Monzia; Giovan Paolo himself chose as the area to build his palace the fifth Quadra di San Giovanni, a sector of the city also known as Borgo San Nazaro. The area, which took its name from the nearby San Nazaro gate and was then characterized by a strong artisan tradition, was precisely in the vicinity of the walls and constituted, among other things, a privileged access point for those entering Brescia through the city walls.
Construction of the noble palace, nevertheless, began only from 1544 onward. It was the four sons of the aforementioned Giovan Paolo Averoldi who initiated the construction of the mansion: Giovan Andrea, Leandro, Mario, and Fulgenzio, on the aforementioned date, entered into a contract with the Bergamasque architects and military engineers Pietro Isabello and his son Marcantonio; the two designers were commissioned both to design the new mansion from scratch and to adapt the pre-existing hovels and buildings in the area of the service courtyard. It is highly probable, moreover, that the work was conducted rather expeditiously, also by virtue of the fact that, again according to the terms of the stipulated contract, the fee would not be rendered unless certain timelines of the construction site were met.
A few months after the contract was signed, Giovan Andrea Averoldi, speaking also on behalf of the other three brothers, approached the city council to request the cession of another public area, so that they could "make a building which is well designed and built according to the canons of architecture"; in return, part of their property was ceded by the Averoldi family to both the south and the north, so that the adjacent public road could be widened.
The eastern wing of the palace was built with a certain celerity, since, only six months after the beginning of the work, it was already completed. Proof of this is the testimony provided by the Augustinian nuns of the neighboring monastery of Santa Croce: the latter, precisely as a result of the construction of the aforementioned wing of the palace, asked the city council for permission to raise the perimeter wall of their building further, so that they could not be seen from the windows of the palace. Work on the building, in any case, did not proceed very expeditiously: the testimony of Leandro Averoldi, dating back to 1548, reports that it was still necessary to incur substantial expenses to finish its construction; twenty years later, it is even said that there was "more than half of it still to be built."
Nevertheless, at the end of the eighteenth century, the palace and in particular the noble floor were affected by a new phase of building and artistic commissions: at the behest of the brothers Giuseppe and Faustino Chizzola, then owners of the property, the architect Giovanni Donegani and artists such as Giuseppe Manfredini, Giuseppe Teosa, as well as ornamentalists such as Saverio Gandini, Francesco Tellaroli and Ferdinando Pellizzari were commissioned. The rooms were frescoed between 1788 and 1796 and feature, on the whole, a reworking in a pre-Romantic style of seventeenth-century themes, also taking up motifs and stylistic features of classical art.
As the construction of Palazzo Averoldi protracted for a long time, it is not easy to reconstruct both the original appearance of the building and the various interventions made over the centuries. Nevertheless, the plan layout of the mansion is a unique case in the panorama of the city's aristocratic residences, since it presents a U-shaped plan, with the front courtyard open to the south. Equally unusual is the fact that the entrance from the north leads directly into the service courtyard, originally equipped with stables, barns and sheds and consisting of rustic masonry; a further unusual element is the lack, in the aristocratic palace itself, of a main facade.
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