TREMEZZO, Villa Carlotta - Interior

When Gian Battista Sommariva, a great art collector, bought Villa Carlotta in the early 19th century, he greatly enriched its interior, especially with paintings and sculptures by major artists of the time.

He arranged some of the rooms specifically to highlight the beauty of the works on display, as in the case of the Palamedes Room, named after the magnificent sculpture by Antonio Canova depicting the young hero of Greek mythology, known to have clashed several times with Ulysses.

When the villa was given as a gift from the Princes of Prussia to their daughter Charlotte, her husband, George II of Saxony, renovated the mansion. He had additional décor created, such as the Hall of Views, which he had painted in a shade of red reminiscent of the villas found in Pompeii, and he brought in other works of art.

One of the most spectacular rooms is the Marble Hall with a frieze divided into ten panels, created by Berther Thorvaldsen, running along the four walls and depicting Alexander the Great's triumphal entry into Babylon. In the center of the room is a sculptural group with the gods Venus and Mars by Luigi Acquisti....