Casa Cavassa is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

-style palazzo in Saluzzo, region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy, and the site of the city’s museum, the Museo Civico Casa Cavassa. It is situated in the San Martino village.

History

Casa Cavassa was the residence of Galeazzo Cavassa and his son Francesco, members of a family (ennobled in 1460) native of

Carmagnola Carmagnola (; pms, Carmagnòla ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located south of Turin. The town is on the right side of the Po river. The nature of the soil determined over t ...

and both general vicars of the

marquisate of Saluzzo The Marquisate of Saluzzo () was a historical Italian state that included parts of the current region of Piedmont and of the French Alps. The Marquisate was much older than the Renaissance lordships, being a legacy of the feudalism of the High ...

. Traces of a building dating back to the Middle Ages can be found in the basements and in the ogival windows of the façade overlooking Via San Giovanni. Since 1505 it became ownership of Francesco, vicar first during the rule of Ludovico II of Saluzzo (died 1504) and then during the

Marguerite of Foix Margaret of Foix (French: ''Marguerite de Foix''; c. 1449– 15 May 1486) was Duchess of Brittany from 1474 to 1486 by marriage to Duke Francis II. Life She was the daughter of Queen Eleanor of Navarre (1425–1479) and of Gaston IV, Count ...

’s regency. Francesco Cavassa refurbished the building in a Renaissance style based on the new trends of the contemporary Padan area. After the restoration and enlargement, the layout took the semblance of an L, with the bodies joined by spiral stairs. The edifice took advantage of the sloping ground in order to extend over six floors, three underground included kitchens, cellars and servants’ rooms, while the reception halls and the private apartments were on the upper floors. A rapid dilapidation started when Francesco, hostile to the new Marquis Giovanni Ludovico, was confined for political reasons and died a violent death. The edifice remained to the Cavassa heirs until the 18th century; later the house was divided into private apartments and the deterioration of the structures increased. In 1883 the edifice was purchased by Marquis Emanuele Tapparelli d’Azeglio (nephew of the writer

Massimo Massimo, also Massimino, and Massimine () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Massimo Agostinelli (Max Agos) (born 1987), Swiss based Italian American artist, entrepreneur and activist *Massimo Ago ...

), a cosmopolitan diplomat, a lover of art and antiques. The Marquis entrusted

Vittorio Avondo Vittorio Avondo (August 10, 1836 – December 14, 1910) was an Italian antiquarian and painter born in Turin, where he served as a member of the city council. In his painting, he depicted mainly landscapes from his native Piedmont. He is considere ...

(painter, collector and future director of the Museums of Turin) and the engineer Melchiorre Pulciano with the restoration. They tried to recover the Renaissance appearance of the edifice, supported by numerous workshops located in Saluzzo and following the principle known as “completion according to style”: eliminated of what was considered irrelevant and addition of what thought to be necessary in a 16th-century maison. For the fitting out of the chambers, which had been deprived of their original furnishings during the

pillage Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

s following Francesco Cavassa’s death, many objects of art were acquired, some documenting the Cavassa family, others dating back to the 15th or 16th century and coming from the antique market or bestowed by collectors. Then, in order to complete the decor, the Marquis commissioned creation of pieces of furniture which could reproduce Renaissance and late Gothic works of art. At Tapparelli d'Azeglio's death in 1890, the municipality inherited the edifice and opened it to the public the following year. The present arrangement, as far as possible, replicates one projected by Marquis Tapparelli, which was recreated on the basis of the inventory drawn up by the notary Gullino in 1890 (after the Marquis' death) and according to some photographs taken at the end of the 19th century restoration works. Later some important works of art have been added to the Tapparelli collection.

External links

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‘Casa Cavassa di Saluzzo’
Castelli Aperti. {{Authority control Saluzzo Museums in Piedmont Buildings and structures completed in the 16th century Cavassa Renaissance architecture in Piedmont Local museums in Italy