Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari

As 18th-century travellers taking the traditional Tour d’Italie sailed up the Brenta River from Venice to Padua, they could admire Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari, one of the jewels of late Venetian baroque architecture nestled in a curve in the river.

Built in the early 18th century for the Serimann, Venetian noble family, of Persian origin, the Villa was given its current form in the middle of the same century, when the Widmann family purchased it and modernised it, adapting it to French Rococo taste. In this way, the main building became a welcoming home suitable for parties and receptions.

Two artists very popular with Venetians decorated the main salon in 1765, Giuseppe Angeli (1712-1798), a follower of Giambattista Piazzetta, and Gerolamo Mengozzi Colonna, Tiepolo’s favourite associate. However, it is not certain who painted the frescoes, though some historians attribute them to Francesco Zanchi.

In 1883, the Villa was auctioned off and purchased by Francesco Somazzi. After changing hands several times, it returned to the Widmann family. The last remaining member of the family, Elisabetta gave it to her son Ludovico in 1946, who sold it to the Costanzo family in 1970. The property is currently owned by the Metropolitan City of Venice, previously the Province of Venezia.