Vicenza in May - Day 1 the centre, Gallerie d'Italia and Palazzo Thiene

It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday morning as we head east on the A4 motorway from Brescia to Vicenza. I’m feeling ok so we have decided, after consulting a somewhat pessimistic weather forecast, to spend three nights in the city famous for Palladio, the architect whose work inspired so many famous buildings in Europe and the US. There is a little traffic, just cars because trucks are banned on a Sunday, normal considering this is the third day of the ‘ponte’ or long weekend of 1st May which was a Friday this year.

We get to the apartment for 10.15 and are again lucky to have early check-in. The apartment promised well. A recently renovated attic fitted with antique local furniture, an aesthetically pleasing coupling of cream tiles and warm wood. In reality we could remove the word recently before renovated. It’s nice, but needs a little TLC, as well as some blinds, because when it gets light at 5 something a.m., it gets light.

I digress. We are happy to get installed and have an early lunch before setting off on foot to explore Vicenza. It’s a five-minute walk to the old walls which enclose the historical centre. Through Porta Santa Croce, our first impression is positive. The UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto" does not disappoint. Vicenza is clean, quiet, pretty, with lots of historical palazzi and tasteful flower decorations. 

Walking along Corso Fogazzaro we stop to see the church of San Lorenzo and also the cloister where there is an exhibition of spring mushrooms and leaves with the names of the trees. 

We are soon in the main square where there is the Basilica Palladiana, one of Palladio’s chief masterpieces in the city. Not a Basilica (which in Italian usually indicates a church), it was originally a seat of government with shops on the ground floor. The shops, mostly jeweller’s because Vicenza is famous also for its jewellers, and the Museo del Gioello still occupy most of the ground floor.

We are in need of coffee so stop at Antica Pasticceria Sorarù where Andrea also has strudel and I a very tasty ‘girello’ with raisins. The bill, including a cappuccino and a coffee, of 9.30 euros is not expensive considering we are sitting outside next to the Basilica Palladiana and practically below the statue of Palladio himself. 

The square – Piazza dei Signori - is occupied by an event organized by firefighters so we leave the photos until the following day and wander a few of the surrounding streets before going into the entrance of the Basilica Palladiana to buy the Vicenza silver card. The lady behind the desk is not very friendly, huffs and is almost rude when we legitimately ask if the ‘reduced rate’ is also for pensioners (it isn’t). Not a good impression for somebody who should be promoting the city and welcoming visitors. 

Anyway our first stop isn’t using the Silver card -  we walk to Gallerie d’Italia at Palazzo Leoni Montanari. Entry is free the first Sunday of the month. We have booked but in the end arrive earlier than the planned 3 o’clock, but it isn’t a problem (a friendly gentleman at the desk here). 

Gallerie d’Italia are the museums in Milan, Turin, Naples and Vicenza owned and run by the Intesa San Paolo group Bank which host the artistic heritage acquired by the bank over the years in a historic and cultural setting. We visited the one in Milan a couple of years ago.

The first room on the ground floor is one of those multimedia efforts to immerse you in the spirit of what comes next – in this case, Russian icons. We had seen some similar, and unexpectedly, at the Museo diocesano in Brescia. These too are nice, in particular those produced in the 18th and 19th centuries are of interest.

As we leave this area there is a ‘Grotta di Eolo’ with ceiling stuccoes which leads to the Loggetta di Zefiro e Clori, up the stairs to the first floor or baroque ‘piano nobile’ of Palazzo Leoni Montanari. Here there are several interesting rooms with 18th century paintings in particular by Pietro Longhi and followers as well as landscapes of the Venice and Veneto area. There’s also a useful explanation of the difference between a veduta and a capriccio etc. and stuccoes, but the most interesting of the rooms is the Sala della Verità with its over the top stuccos which even reach the floor on one side. Impressive! 

However, the highlight of the visit is undoubtedly the sculpture entitled Caduta degli angeli ribelli by Francesco Bertos, sculpted at the beginning of the 18th century from a single block of Carrara marble with a height of 170cm. It shows the Apocalisse di Giovanni with Arcangelo Michele at the top and Lucifer at the bottom. It’s carefully illuminated with the light that comes and goes, highlighting different portions and the comfortable sofa in front of it is an ideal place to rest and observe beauty. It’s quite something!

The inner courtyard and the decorations over the doors are also fascinating. It makes for an interesting visit, and would definitely have been worth the five euro entry fee if it hadn’t been free because of being the first Sunday in the month.

Our next stop, just around the corner, is to see Palazzo Thiene. We have bought the Vicenza silver card which gives access to four of the ‘musei civici di Vicenza’ for 16 euros. There is also a gold card which gives access to all 11 but, considering that everything is closed on Monday, we only have Sunday and Tuesday to visit them and we don’t want to try to do and see too much. We go to Palazzo Thiene first, on Sunday, because it won’t be open on Tuesday.

It's perhaps not quite as nice as Gallerie d’Italia-Palazzo leone Montanari. The entrance is on the right where there’s a temporary exhibition of spheres and a few small rooms of paintings as well as a fantastic lion fireplace! But most of the Palazzo is on the left of the entrance. 

It’s an example of Renaissance architecture, and a Unesco building. Palazzo Thiene was designed by Giulio Romano and built by Andrea Palladio and decorated with stuccoes and sculptures by Alessandro Vittoria (the fireplaces!) and Bartolomeo Ridolfi, with frescoes by Bernardino India and Anselmo Canera. Palazzo Thiene still houses the most important part of the art collections of the former Banca Popolare di Vicenza: paintings from the 16th to 19th centuries , primarily by Venetian artists as well as some ceramics. 

The 15th century paintings include some by Bartolomeo Montagna and Giovanni Bonconsiglio whereas the most important painting of the 16th century is "Madonna with Child and Saint John the Baptist" by Jacopo Bassano. There are also paintings by Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto, Pietro Vecchia and Giulio Carpioni from Vicenza and Giandomenico Tiepolo.

But by now we are flagging. There is only so much art we can absorb in one afternoon when we are also quite tired, so we have a quick look at the second floor which houses sculptures by Arturo Martini and then head out in search of some fresh air and a bottle of water.

Vicenza has none of the automatic vending machine ‘shops’ common in other towns and cities but I eventually find a shop which sells water. The centre of the city is busy on this warm and sunny early May Sunday afternoon and we sit a while on the steps of the Basilica Palladiana to rest and watch the world go by. The plan was to wait until the terrace bar opens at 6.30pm but we are too tired and, alas, not aperitivo drinkers anyway, so we walk slowly back to the apartment. I rest while Andrea goes to do some shopping at a nearby supermarket. There is no doubt that Vicenza is a very pleasant city!