Alexander the Great and the Olympus gods
The ballroom of Ca’ Marcello houses a masterpiece of the eighteenth-century Venetian art scene: the famous cycle of frescoes dedicated to Alexander the Great, made by Giambattista Crosato in 1753.
The frescoes cycle of Ca’ Marcello is one of the best work of Giambattista Crosato. He explains in this villa, with Rococò theatrical forms, important virtues and moral values through the stories of the maximum leader of antiquity, Alexander the Great.
Select and discover each fresco painting
Wedding of Alexander the Great
Painting dimensions: 305 x 235 cm
During his journey of conquest in the East, Alexander the Great falls madly in love with Roxane, a girl of great charm dropped his prisoner, and decides to marry her. The fresco depicts the wedding banquet, in order to communicate the sense of concord and strength obtained from the birth of a family based on love.
Alexander, Apelles and Campaspe
Painting dimensions: 305 x 235 cm
The famous painter Apelles receives from Alexander the Great the commission to create a portrait of his favorite concubine, the beautiful Campaspe. The painter remains fascinated by the beauty of the girl and falls in love instantly. On this occasion, the king shows his magnanimity, which leads him to release the woman, sacrificing his own passions.
Alexander in front of Dario’s body
Painting dimensions: 280 x 235 cm
Darius III, the Great King of Persia and bitter enemy of Alexander the Great, is murdered at the hands of a subject. The fresco depicts the moment in which Alexander, arrived in front of Dario, makes a dramatic gesture of piety: he takes the cloak from his shoulders and covers the body of the enemy, betrayed and killed by his own generals.
The family of Darius in front of Alexander
Painting dimensions: 280 x 235 cm
The encounter between Alexander the Great and the family of Darius III is a moment full of emotions, which leads to the birth of a lasting relationship of respect. The magnanimity shown by the king to his enemy’s family will in fact be recognized and appreciated from all the Persians, leading them to choose Alexander as their new Emperor.
Alexander the Great among the Olympian gods
Painting dimensions: 14,65 x 6,50 m
The impressive fresco that decorates the whole ceiling of the ballroom represents various gods of the Olympus (Jupiter, Juno, Mercury, Neptune, Apollo, Bacchus and many more), among which appears the fair figure of Alexander the Great. The great leader has therefore a place of honor among the gods: you can see him with the armor, the helmet and red cloak. This is the apotheosis of Alexander.
Essential bibliography
About Ca’ Marcello e its frescoes
Andrea Gloria, Il territorio padovano illustrato, Padova 1862, vol. II, p. 222
Nicola Ivanoff, Un ignoto ciclo pittorico di Giambattista Crosato, “Arte Veneta” V, 1951, pp. 170-171
Giuseppe Mazzotti, Le ville venete, Treviso 1953, pp. 221-222
Mercedes Precerutti Garberi, Levada, Villa Marcello, in Affreschi settecenteschi delle Ville Venete, prefazione di Antonio Morassi, Milano 1968, pp. 45-46
Franca Zava Boccazzi, Affreschi settecenteschi delle ville venete, “Arte Veneta” XXIII, 1969, pp. 273-286
Villa Marcello, in Gli affreschi nelle Ville Venete. Dal Seicento all’Ottocento, prefazione di Rodolfo Pallucchini, testi di Francesca D’Arcais, Franca Zava Boccazzi e Giuseppe Pavanello, Venezia 1978, vol. I, p. 178, scheda 84
Nancy Susan Harrison, The Paintings of Giovanni Battista Crosato, dissertazione di laurea, University of Georgia 1983, Ann Arbor 1984, pp. 48-74
Antonio Pra e Andrea Banchieri, Dal castello medioevale alla cultura della villa veneta, Verona 1999
Angelo Pelloso, Piombino Dese. Cenni di Storia ed Arte, Loreggia 2000, pp. 87-89
Monica De Vincenti e Simone Guerriero, Gli stucchi di Villa Maruzzi-Marcello a Levada di Piombino Dese, in L’arte dello stucco in Friuli nei secoli XVII-XVIIl. Storia, tecnica, interconnessioni, atti del convegno internazionale (Passariano-Udine, 24-26 febbraio 2000), a cura di G. Bergamini, P. Goi, Udine 2001, pp. 187-198
Clauco Benito Tiozzo, Alcune note sugli affreschi del Crosato a Ca’ Marcello di Levada, “Ateneo Veneto”, CXCIII, terza serie, 5/II, 2006, pp. 19-29
Ville Venete: la provincia di Padova, Padova 2006
Denis Ton, Levada, Villa Maruzzi, Marcello, in Gli affreschi nelle Ville Venete. Il Settecento, tomo I, a cura di G. Pavanello, Venezia 2010, pp. 328-335, scheda 86
Claudia Daniotti, Storie di Alessandro Magno in villa: intorno agli affreschi di Giambattista Crosato a Ca’ Marcello, Levada di Piombino Dese, “Arte Documento”, Rivista e Collezione di Storia e tutela dei Beni Culturali, 27, 2011, pp. 160-167
About Alexander the Great in European art
Alexander the Great in European Art, catalogo della mostra (Salonicco, 22 settembre 1997-11 gennaio 1998), a cura di Nicos Hadjinicolaou, Salonicco 1997
Claudia Daniotti, Il mito di Alessandro dall’ellenismo al Rinascimento (e oltre), in L’originale assente. Introduzione allo studio della tradizione classica, a cura di Monica Centanni, Milano 2005, pp. 165-196
Alessandro Magno in età moderna, a cura di Franco Biasutti e Alessandra Coppola, Padova 2009
