View of the portego

This villa is typical of the Veneto Region with gardens and decorative murals. It was owned by the Grimani family for more than 200 years and bequeathed to the comune by its last private owner, Elena Vendramin Calergi (married Andrea Valmarana in 1826). It is now the seat of The Valmarana foundation named for her.

The villa underwent extensive renovations in 1757 on the occasion of the marriage of Francesco Vendramin Grimani Calergi and Bianca Morosini. This was the time when Andrea Urbani was engaged to fresco the portego (the large ground-floor room that traverses the building from front to back) and the seven rooms on the second floor.

The decoration of the portego is limited to the walls, on which there are three large landscapes set within ornate, faux architectural settings, also designed by Urbani. The west wall contains View of a Villa with a Pool and Landscape with Waterfall, while the opposite wall has View of a Large Renaissance Palace, divided into two parts by the staircase door. In the centre foreground of each landscape, on a trompe-l’oeil pedestal, is a faux-bronze statuary group representing the struggle between Good and Evil.