Palazzo Belloni Battagia (sometimes Palazzo Belloni Battaglia) is a palace in Venice, located in the Santa Croce district and overlooking the Grand Canal, between the Fontego del Megio and Ca' Tron, a few steps from San Stae.
The palace was built on the remains of a pre-existing Gothic building
in the mid-seventeenth century, designed by Baldassare Longhena, to be
the home of the Belloni family, who at that time owned rich rural
estates in the city of Valencia - connected to Venice via the Via del
Po- and there dedicated to a flourishing trade in white earth together
with the Cagnoli and Aribaldi families.
In reality, there is no
documentation certifying this project to the famous architect, whose
paternity is proven only by the architectural forms. The works were not
easy: the clients had to use up all their wealth to complete the
construction site, which proceeded slowly and ended only in 1663. The
construction then passed to the Battaglia or Battagia family, not
Venetian but aggregated to the patriciate. In 1804 the residence passed
to Antonio Capovilla, a rich merchant, who restructured it in a profound
and invasive way: this operation was not spared by the criticism of his
contemporaries. Currently the first floor houses the Foreign Trade
Institute, while the second is private.
Exteriors
Two-storey building plus a mezzanine, it has a typically
Baroque façade, due to the richness of sculptural decorations.
The
ground floor, surmounted by a balustrade, has a large tympanum portal in
the centre.
The large noble floor has seven rectangular single-lancet
windows inserted in a large play of decorations, including pilasters,
two large coats of arms and, above each single-lancet window, a broken
pediment.
Above a stringcourse, six small square windows characterize
the mezzanine; the attic is crossed, under an indented cornice, by a
long frieze containing the coat of arms of the Belloni family.
On the
roof, two tall pinnacles in the shape of an obelisk rise up in a
symmetrical position, a peculiarity that can only be found in a few
other buildings in the city, such as Palazzo Giustinian Lolin, also
designed by Longhena, or Palazzo Papadopoli.
On the right side, from
the calle it is possible to distinguish, under the shape of the
fireplace on the second floor, the protrusion created by the votive
chapel on the main floor.
Interior
Internally, the main floor
of Palazzo Belloni should be remembered for two reasons: a cycle of
19th-century frescoes is kept in good condition; the aforementioned
noble chapel is housed there, consisting of a small oratory. This votive
structure contains an altar and tempera decorations on the walls and
ceiling.