View of the ballroom

The Villa Zenobio in Santa Bona Nuova, near Treviso, was built between 1673 and 1689 and was profoundly reworked during the mid-eighteenth century when the garden wing was erected. The small entrance portego was decorated in the early years of the eighteenth century by Gregorio Lazzarini. In 1744, the villa was acquired by Sebastiano Uccelli (1695-1768) who can be credited with the renovation of the villa. He commissioned Francesco Fontebasso to paint frescoes in the ballroom of the new garden wing.

Frescoes unfold across the ceiling and walls of the vast ballroom, as well as beneath the open gallery. The ceiling fresco depicts The Magnanimity of Scipio, while the wall frescoes focus on the narration of episodes from the life of Queen Zenobia and represent The Banquet of Zenobia and Triumph of Aureliano. However, the interpretation of these scenes is debated.