Architecture of Ca’ Marcello
From the architectural point of view, the villa was in the beginning composed of a central Palladian style body built around the sixteenth century, then completing a few decades later by two lateral side (porticoed wings typical of the Veneto villas) separated from it.
It is not possible state with certainty the name of the architect who designed it, because all the archive containing this information was lost in a fire in 1920 of another villa Marcello, who was nearby, in which it was guarded.
Of the original structure remains intact today the whole back side, which once was identical to the front. In ‘700 when the villa was transformed into a place of representation and vacation, was superimposed on the existing front façade the current one, with the creation of the bugnat front surmounted by a large semi-columns with ionic capital, connecting the main body to the barchesse with two loggias surmounted by large terraces adorned with statues.
The execution of these interventions are attributed to Francesco Maria Preti around 1750. The large architraves windows of the noble floor, have molded frame, surmounted by a tympanum decoration, while the central doors, has the coat of arms of the family above the keystone.
Looking at the façade, on the tympanum figure the Roman statue of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Imperial Commander winner of Hannibal, from which the family recognizes the legendary origin. The end result is a simple but impressive complex, which is one of the clearest examples of architecture in the world of Venetian Villas.
