The fresco of The Triumph of Poetry by Gaspare Diziani is located on the ceiling of the Sala dei Pastelli on the first floor of Ca’ Rezzonico.
On the occasion of the wedding between Ludovico Rezzonico and Faustina Savorgnan, celebrated in 1758, the leading painters of the time were commissioned to decorate the ceilings of the four rooms of Ca’ Rezzonico overlooking the San Barnaba canal. Giambattista Tiepolo frescoed the Sala dell’Allegoria Nuziale (Hall of the Wedding Allegory) and the Sala del Trono (Throne Room), Jacopo Guarana the Sala degli Arazzi (Hall of Tapestries) and Gaspare Diziani the Sala dei Pastelli (Pastels Room).
The fresco depicts the triumph of poetry over its sister arts: painting, sculpture, architecture and music. It is likely that the theme was chosen as a tribute to Quintiliano Rezzonico who was a poet and man of letters.
The dirt accumulated over time and the presence of oils applied during a nineteenth-century restoration had heavily obscured and weighed down the painting, making the fresco difficult to read.
The restoration thus enabled the recovery of the splendid and luminous original colour scheme and restored the work’s exuberant vitality, typical of Venetian Rococo splendour. During the restoration, the work days spent on the fresco were also identified: 34 for the surrounding decoration and 17 for the part executed directly by Gaspare Diziani. That such a short amount of time was required to paint the whole work derives from the lack of pentimenti with respect to the preparatory cartoons: evidently, excellent preparatory work had been carried out before the scene was painted.
The restoration was carried out between 2003 and 2004 by Edvige Ancilotto.
Fondamenta Rezzonico
Dorsoduro 3144
30123 Venezia (VE)
T. +39 346 3750277
info@venicefoundation.org
