Villa Valmarana ai Nani

Villa Valmarana ai Nani Review

Inside this 17th- to 18th-century country house, named for the statues of dwarfs adorning the garden, is a series of frescoes executed in 1757 by Gianbattista Tiepolo depicting scenes from classical mythology, The Illiad, Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, and Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. They include his Sacrifice of Iphigenia, a major masterpiece of 18th-century painting. The neighboring foresteria (guest house) is also part of the museum; it contains frescoes showing 18th-century life at its most charming, and scenes of chinoiserie popular in the 18th century, by Tiepolo's son Giandomenico (1727-1804). The garden dwarves are probably taken from designs by Giandomenico. You can reach the villa on foot by following the same path that leads to Palladio's Villa della Rotonda.