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After having been the seat of the podestà of the Most Serene
Republic of Venice for almost 350 years, the building was acquired by Ugo Da
Como (Brescia 1869-1941), who commissioned a careful restoration of it in the
Neo-Gothic style between 1907 and 1909. Senator in Italy's monarchical
parliament, friend of Pompeo Molmenti and Corrado Ricci, Ugo Da Como always
had a particular tie with this house of which he took special care even in the
smallest detail. The ground floor rooms, organized according to public image
principles, propose the same arrangements of the furnishings that the last
inhabitant of the house had chosen, and, therefore, constitute a rare
testimony of taste and lifestyle between the end of the 19th and the beginning
of the 20th centuries. The rich artistic collections that are presented
evidence analogies with the historic house museum of the milanese Bagatti
Valsecchi brothers, Fausto and Giuseppe, but they also allude to the Aesthetic
Style disseminated widely in the areas around Brescia by Gabriele D'Annunzio,
who, from 1921, chose to live on Lake Garda in the nearby Gardone Riviera.
The great library contains more than 52,000 works dating from the XII century
onwards, and is completely furnished as planned by the last owner.
Fondazione Ugo Da Como
Via Rocca, 1
25107 Lonato (Brescia), Italy
Telephone and Fax [+39] 030-913-0060
Opening Hours:
Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 12 A.M. and from 2:30 to 6:30 P.M.
The visits on Saturday and Sunday are accompanied by guides of the Friends
Association of the Fondazione Ugo Da Como. It is possible to include a visit
to the gardens and to the grand Visconti-Venetian fortress belonging to the
monumental complex constructed by Ugo Da Como.
During all other days, reservations are necessary.
DEMHIST International Committee for Historic House Museums
Frick Museum, New York
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris
Museo Cerralbo, Madrid
Museo Mario Praz, Roma
Museo Giannettino Luxoro, Genova Nervi
Sir John Soane's Museum, London
The Casa del Podestà, Lonato
The Museum of Decorative Arts-Pietro Accorsi Foundation, Turin
The Carbone House, Lavagna
Conference
in Genova, November 2000 (Acts available from DEMHIST)
Conference
in Barcelona - July 2001 (Acts available from DEMHIST)
Conference
in Amsterdam - October 2002 (Acts available from DEMHIST)
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