Bologna Palazzo Zambeccari-Dondini
Palazzo Zambeccari-Dondini Photos
About Palazzo Zambeccari-Dondini
On the corner of Via Barberia and Piazza Malpighi is this senatorial palazzo erected by the architect Alfonso Torreggiani. The exaggerated façade was completed in 1753.
Behind the main door an elevated floor leads into the main passageway. Under the light in the hallway is an equestrian piece of art work almost unnoticeable to the eye. It’s quite significant since it’s believed to date to the Roman period and although it has no known connections with the building it may have simply just been placed here as a mere token of decoration.
One of the main characteristics of this palazzo is the exquisite stair case built on the designs of Gian Giacomo Dotti approximately 20 years after the main building. The life-sized sculptures representing Liberty and Patriotism were the work of Antonio Schiassi while the frescoes were completed by Pietro Fabri. Art work here may be attributed to pupils of Torreggiani.
Above the monumental staircase is another magnificent feature rarely ever viewed since it’s part of the private residences here. This iron balcony – the viewing space now covered over with glass – highlights the whole staircase below. Directly overhead is a decorative painting known as Trompe-l’œil attributed to Pietro Fabbri. Although the room here is unusually low in height and quite claustrophobic, seen from below this space appears much higher as was intended by the art technique used.
On the piano nobile here are various rooms displaying large canvases. Vincenzo Martinelli executed the landscapes while other pictures were done by Petronio Fancelli.
A bank is renting out offices under this floor but this space is currently empty although there are plans afoot for renovation of this part of the building which will see it eventually leased out again.
On the ceilings are an incredible array of vibrant tempera perspectives. Giovanni Antonio Bettini was responsible for the ornamental work and Monchino completed the figurative art work.
The Dondini family were not originally from Bologna and it’s thought that they were probably descendants of Dondini Savi or Savi of Cento. They accumulated their tremendous wealth partly from an inheritance from the Ghiselli family but also took up important positions from 1771-1797 in the Senate.
This former house actually replaces another 14th century building known under the name of casa merlata. It once belonged to the Zambeccari family but acquired by the Dondini family in 1707.
On the initiative of Guglielmo Gaetano the house was rebuilt between 1591-1595 on the designs of Alfonso Torreggiani. It’s described as, ‘a solid structure with a sloping basement wall, has a two storey façade with trabeated windows on the piano nobile and semicircular mouldings on the windows of the upper floor, surmounted by an ornate cornice.’
The palazzo was eventually sold in the 1800s to the Rusconi family. In 1825 they transformed the garden which lies opposite Piazza Malpighi from a ‘cavallerizza’ built in 1612 by Pietro Fiorini into a residence for the Sassolo de’Banchi.
References
Giuseppe Sassatelli, Cristiana Morigi Govi, Jacopo Ortalli, Francesca Bocchi, Atlante Storico Delle Città Italiane Emilia Romagna Bologna, Bologna I, Bologna 1996, p190.