Palazzo Vescovile

IL PALAZZO VESCOVILE

Next to the municipal building stands the bishop’s palace, built in the second half of the fifteenth century by Bishop Ermolao Barbaro, based on the design and construction supervision of the engineer Michele da Caravaggio together with his son Francesco. With an imposing and massive appearance, it is situated around a rectangular Renaissance cloister. On the ground floor, there are 22 columns of red Verona marble and the same number in the upper loggia, with a well in the centre. In September 1581 the palace hosted the Empress Maria of Austria for one night while travelling with her brother Maximilian, from Bohemia to Spain. From 1801 to 1805, Verona which is on the right side of the Adige was in French hands, Bishop Giovanni Andrea Avogadro stayed there. It has been a municipal property since 1955. In the chapel you can admire the Nativity of Mary, a fresco from 1534 by Francesco Torbido.

La samaritana al pozzo (The Samaritan woman at the well) by Girolamo dai Libri (attributed) (Parish church of Monteforte)

On the right wall of the presbytery is the most valuable canvas, “Christ and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well”, a work unanimously attributed to Girolamo Dai Libri (1474 ca.-1555).

Dated between 1520 and 1530, the canvas depicts Jacob’s crumbled well, the stone seats joined by iron clamps and Jesus seated asking the young Samaritan woman for water; in the distance the apostles Peter, James and John who are walking towards him and knights in costume who is running around in freedom. Behind them you can see a magnificent spring landscape, with a chain of mountains and a lake gulf that laps a small turreted city; on the right, a mountain culminating in peaks and, on the wooded penices, a castle from which a road leading to the lake descends.

The main characters, although in the foreground, do not dominate the scene which is rich in details and realistic details. A lively ride precedes a group of travellers, in the first of which we recognize the apostles Peter, James and John. On the left, at the foot of a palm tree, three men in oriental robes and turbans stand while a fourth, who is perched on the tree, picks the dates.

The happy colours, beauty and attention to detail reveal the skill of the miniature, which Girolamo possessed and which was the traditional art of his family.

The canvas, executed according to critics between 1520 and 1530, shows evident influences of Francesco Morone, friend as well as colleague of Girolamo, with whom he often worked in close collaboration.

It is not known how the work ended in Monteforte, but it is useful to remember that a few steps from the parish church was the Bishop’s Palace, the summer seat of the bishop of Verona. Due to the war, in 1917 the painting was transferred to Florence from where it returned without the precious frame. In 1919-1920 it appeared in the Civic Museum of Verona, on the occasion of an exhibition of ancient paintings from which it returned in 1925, after not a few controversies. In this period, scholars and art critics knew and made known this canvas, which until then had remained virtually unknown.

In 1940 the Superintendency took it to a place deemed safe because of the war and in 1947 it was exhibited in Verona at the The main characters, although in the foreground, do not dominate the scene which is rich in details and realistic details. A lively ride precedes a group of travelers, in the first of which we recognize the apostles Peter, James and John. On the left, at the foot of a palm tree, three men in oriental robes and turbans stand while a fourth, perched on the tree, picks the dates.

The happy colors, beauty and attention to detail reveal the skill of the miniature, which Girolamo possessed and which was the traditional art of his family.

The canvas, executed according to critics between 1520 and 1530, shows evident influences of Francesco Morone, friend as well as colleague of Girolamo, with whom he often worked in close collaboration.

It is not known how the work ended in Monteforte, but it is useful to remember that a few steps from the parish church was the Bishop’s Palace, the summer seat of the bishop of Verona. Due to the war, in 1917 the painting was transferred to Florence the place where it returned without the precious frame. In 1919-1920 it appeared in the Civic Museum of Verona, on the occasion of an exhibition of ancient paintings from which it returned in 1925, after not a few controversies. In this period, scholars and art critics made this canvas well known, which until then had remained virtually unknown.

In 1940 the Superintendency took it to a place deemed safe because of the war and in 1947 it was exhibited in Verona at the exhibition “Masterpieces of Veronese Painting” organized by Antonio Avena, director of the Castelvecchio Museum; in 1981 it was restored by Marta Galvan and in 1986-87 it was exhibited in Castelvecchio. “Masterpieces of Veronese Painting” organized by Antonio Avena, director of the Castelvecchio Museum.