Around 1780 Rovigo was in the midst of a building boom. It was then that Count Giovanni Battista Angeli decided to build his palazzo. According to the Regione Veneto, the design is by the Veronese architect Francesco Schiavi, and this would be his most significant work. The result was a Neoclassical building with a harmonious façade, conceived to represent a family. In the pediment sits the Angeli coat of arms, framed by trophies of arms: a calling card in stone, addressed to anyone passing along the street. Those who walk past the façade today can still read that message.
An 18th-century jewel box
Inside is a small jewel box of the late Venetian 18th century. Frescoes by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Canal depict episodes from Tasso’s epic “Gerusalemme Liberata” (Jerusalem Delivered) and mythological scenes. Every wall tells a story, of knights, heroines and ancient gods. They are framed by the refined stuccoes of Basilio Serena. The monumental staircase is dominated by two statues carved in 1785 by the Veronese sculptor Gaetano Muttoni. To climb that staircase is to step into the 18th century. Painting, stucco and sculpture merge into a whole that captures the taste of an entire age.
Guests from three eras
The palazzo has welcomed leading figures: few rooms, much history. According to the Regione Veneto, its guests included Rovigo’s last Venetian podestà (governor), Nicolò Venier, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Umberto of Savoy. A single building thus brings together the end of the Venetian Republic (the Serenissima), Habsburg rule and the Risorgimento, the movement that unified Italy. It is a guest book that sums up a century of Italian history.
After a long restoration, since 2019 Palazzo Angeli has housed the Law courses of the University of Ferrara on its Rovigo campus. Its frescoed halls are busy again every day. It is a second life, one that has given the palazzo back to the city. For students, studying here means doing so surrounded by art. Where emperors and generals were once received, law is now studied, beneath the same painted ceilings.
