Palazzo Cattaneo Della Volta

The Palazzo Cattaneo Della Volta, also called Palazzo Cattaneo di San Torpete or Palazzo di Nicolò Cattaneo, is a building located in Piazza Cattaneo at number 26 in the historical centre of Genoa. The building was included in the list of palaces inscribed in the Rolli di Genova.

Palazzo Cattaneo Della Volta
Palazzo Cattaneo Della Volta in Piazza Cattaneo 26
General information
StatusIn use
TypePalace
Architectural styleMannerist, Baroque
LocationGenoa, Italy
Address26, Piazza Cattaneo
Coordinates44.406992°N 8.928206°E / 44.406992; 8.928206
Current tenantshousing/offices
Construction started16th century
Completed16th century
Design and construction
Architect(s)Bartolomeo Bianco

History and description

Situated in a strategic position, between the market of San Giorgio and the Ripa, it is an example of a long-lasting property; the Cattaneo della Volta family have had their hotel and their Church of San Torpete here since the 12th century. The considerable fortunes of the Cattaneo (family) were linked to the trade in textiles with Flanders. Filippo Cattaneo was the owner of a trading company in Antwerp from 1562, and from 1584 he held the position of consul of the 'Genoese Nation' in that city.[1]

Visibly documenting this long duration are the octagonal pillar with cubic capital and the bas-relief with St. George and the dragon on the south side of the square. Present in all rolls since 1599, the building is the result of the amalgamation of two medieval lots. The interventions commissioned by Leila Cattaneo and carried out by the architect Bartolomeo Bianco, who also carried out a general renovation with the raising of one floor, date back to 1623.[2] The baroque façade is embellished by the portal of Ionic order in white marble. It was the subject of a recent partial restoration that revealed traces of squaring on the upper floors of the façade on the axis of Via delle Grazie with frescoes provisionally assigned to the late Middle Ages.

In 1739 Nicolò Cattaneo commissioned the Bolognese painter Giacomo Antonio Boni to decorate a drawing room, with Diana and Endymion frescoed on the vault.[3]

The palace was damaged both in the Naval Bombardment of Genoa (1684) of Louis XIV of France in 1684, and more severely in 1941, the top two floors were destroyed by bombing and later rebuilt by raising one floor.

Of exceptional richness was the picture gallery of the palace, which included in particular nine portraits by Antoon Van Dyck depicting various members of the Cattaneo family, displayed in special quadratures frescoed by Giacomo Antonio Boni, in the «Van Dyck drawing room». Among them were in particular the Portrait of a Lady with Golden Chain (c.d. Giovanna Cattaneo), now in the Frick Collection, New York,[4] the celebrated Portrait of Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo and the portraits of her two children, Filippo Cattaneo and Maddalena Cattaneo, (1623) now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.[5] Following the death of Marquis Giuseppe Cattaneo (1825—1906), the famous picture gallery was sold by the heirs to American collectors, despite the great scandal aroused at the time and the consequent trial for violation of the law on the export of paintings.[6]

  • The facade of the palace
    The facade of the palace
  • Particular of the facade
    Particular of the facade
  • The main portal
    The main portal
  • The bas-relief of Saint George and the dragon on the façade south of the square
    The bas-relief of Saint George and the dragon on the façade south of the square
  • Portrait of Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo, Anthony van Dyck.
    Portrait of Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo, Anthony van Dyck.

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Notes
  1. Piero Boccardo and Giacomo Montanari, I Cattaneo della Volta. Portraits of a family, in I Cattaneo Della Volta. Vicende e protagonisti di una millenaria famiglia genovese, edited by Elena Chiavari Cattaneo Della Volta and Andrea Lercari, published by Sagep Editori, p. 461.
  2. C. Arcolao, Scheda 7. Palazzo Cattaneo Della Volta, in Arkos — Special issue I palazzi dei Rolli, 2004, pp. 40-43.
  3. Pittura e decorazione a Genova e in Liguria nel Settecento, Gavazza Ezia — Magnani Lauro, Genoa, Carige, 2000, p. 68.
  4. The Frick Collection: An Illustrated Catalogue. Volume I: Paintings, American, British, Dutch, Flemish and German, New York, 1968, 179—180
  5. Piero Boccardo, "Portraits of Collectors and Patrons, " in Susan Barnes, Piero Boccardo, et al. , Van Dyck in Genoa. Grand Painting and Collecting, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, 1997: 53-56
  6. F. Gennari Santori, 'This is the land of billions!' The Van Dyck Cattaneo Sale, 1907—1909, in «Ricerche di Storia dell’Arte», 73 (2001), pp. 31-39

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