The Palazzo Ducale di Sassuolo is a Baroque villa located in the town of Sassuolo, thirty minutes outside Modena, northern Italy. Built on the site of a medieval castle, it was converted into a court residence by Borso d'Este in 1458. The present building was commissioned by Duke Francesco I d'Este in the early 17th century from the architect Bartolomeo Avanzini. Today, it is owned by the town of Sassuolo and the Gallerie Estensi.
The palace is famous for its highly decorated interior frescoes by Jean Boulanger and various perspectival ceilings by artists including Ottavio Vivani and Giacomo Cialdieri. It also features a garden with vistas reminiscent of Versailles and a fanciful "pool" known as the Fontanazzo. The complex includes fountain sculptures based on the designs of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Renaissance fresco fragments recovered from the Scandiano palace.
A restoration of the piano nobile in 2001 allowed the palace to be used for contemporary art exhibitions. The Stuccoed apartments, which terminate the tour of the Duke and Duchesses’ private and public apartments on the first floor, have hosted the exhibition "MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT" since 2003. The gilded reliefs that previously framed the duke's favourite artworks shall house various minimalist pieces donated by the Panza collection until 2103.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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