Vault of the
Hall of the Divinities
Already occupied by German soldiers, at the end of the Second World War (1944-1945), the Hall of the Divinities suffered a long period of damage and neglect culminating in the partial collapse of the vaulted ceiling.
Purchased by the new owner, architect Giuseppe Conforti, the hall was restored with the replacement of the vault in 2014, followed by the restoration of the frescoes in 2015-2016.
Loggia
In 2014, the ceiling of the loggia, which had already collapsed during and after the Second World War, was rebuilt.
The loggia opens onto the courtyard in a sequence of six arches on tapered pillars in rusticated ashlar, which, together with the door and window frames, hark back to the school of Michele Sanmicheli, the greatest Veronese architect of the Renaissance.
Beneath a window is a walled bas-relief depicting an amphora with vine shoots. It was part of the antiquarian and epigraphic collection (now at the Museo Lapidario Maffeiano in Verona) assembled in the villa by Canon Cesare Nichesola.
Frescoes
Paolo Farinati's frescoes in the Hall of the Deities, the Green Hall, and the Red Hall were restored in 2015-2016 by the new owners and under the direction of the Superintendence of Fine Arts of Verona. The restoration involved the removal and replacement of old stucco and pictorial retouching dating back to a previous restoration in 1963.
Facade of the nymphaeum-grotto
The façade of the Grotto-Nymphaeum was also restored in 2016. The restoration included the reconstruction of the right-hand portion, which had already been demolished in the first half of the 20th century.
The Grotto-Nymphaeum overlooks a "secret" garden, sheltered behind the Domus as in ancient villas.
Cited by sources as a place of "delight," the Grotto features a marble floor with twenty-four mosaic sections; on the walls, among the still visible remains of Paolo Farinati's frescoes, are three marble basins enclosed within niches of stalactites and spongy rocks; a starburst of rocks radiates from the top of the vault.
Museum-halls
Beginning in 2009, under the direction of architect Giuseppe Conforti, art historian and co-owner of the villa, work began on the museum rooms. They include a gallery of plaster casts (plaster casts of Classical and Renaissance sculptures), a collection of etchings on the theme of ancient Rome (including works by Giambattista Piranesi, Francesco Piranesi, Luigi Rossini, and Giovanni Volpato), and antique furniture.
