Villa Bettoni is a large lake-side Neoclassical-style rural palace located in the frazione of Bogliaco, on the shores of

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

, within the town limits of

Gargnano Gargnano ( Gardesano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Garda. The municipal territory includes the artificial Valvestino Lake, created in 1962. History The name of the ...

Province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia. With an ar ...

, region of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy. The massive villa and manicured gardens are a scenographic landmark on the Lake. Lago di Garda Gargnano Villa Bettoni 001

History

By 1752, due to their services to the Holy Roman Emperors, the Bettoni family had been granted the title as Counts. The extended family decided to build a villa matching their wealth at this site, which they had owned since the 15th century. Initially they briefly employed

Adriano Cristofali Adriano Cristofali (25 March 1717, in Verona https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/adriano-cristofali_(Dizionario-Biografico)] Treccani.it – 1788) was a Veronese architect, whose style bridged between Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment-Baroque a ...

, but he was dismissed in 1753. Work was restarted by Count Carlo Bettoni in 1756 with a design commissioned from

Antonio Marchetti Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

. Carlo's brother, Count Giovanni Maria, commissioned the rational garden layout (1764-1768) from Amerigo Vincenzo Pierallini, which includes a

Nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

-like

exedra An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...

structure dedicated to the theme of Apollo. In niches of this hill-side

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

are allegorical sculptures of virtues including charity, glory, power, honor, faith, hunting prowess, and prudence. The multistory villa block presents imposing facades on both the garden and lake-sides. The lake-side central block has colossal order pilasters atop a rusticate stone base. The lakeside roof-top

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

has a marble pantheon of the pagan gods including Bacchus, Ceres, Jove, Venus, Pluto, Tethys, Juno, and mercury sculpted by Giovanni Battista Locatelli. The inside has frescoes by Bernardino and Fabrizio Galliari depicting in allegory the marriage of service and wisdom (Mercury and Minerva); and power and beauty (Hercules and

Omphale In Greek mythology, Omphale (; Ancient Greek: Ὀμφάλη) was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. Diodorus Siculus provides the first appearance of the Omphale theme in literature, though Aeschylus was aware of the episode. The Gree ...

). The main dining room has a cycle of paintings by

Alessandro Campo Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

, a member of the studio of

Andrea Celesti Andrea Celesti (1637–1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, working in Venice. His style gravitated over the years from a turgid and academic weightiness to a lighter, looser brushstroke. Biography Celesti was born in Venice and i ...

.Ville e castelli d'Italia: Lombardia e laghi
second edition, by

Luca Beltrami Luca Beltrami (November 13, 1854 – August 8, 1933) was an Italian architect and architectural historian, known particularly for restoration projects. Biography Beltrami was born in Milan. He was initially a student at the Politecnico in Mila ...

, article by A. Cavagna Sangiuliani; Editors of Tecnografica, Milan, (1907), page 363. One of the rooms has a large equestrian portrait of Field-marshal Bettoni. During the end of the Second World War, the villa housed one of the ministers of the ill-fated Nazi-protectorate of the

Republic of Salò The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

. The villa is still privately owned by the Bettoni family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettoni Bogliaco Villas in Lombardy Gardens in Lombardy Neoclassical architecture in Lombardy