With the building of the palace as a residence in 1338, the Carraresi asserted their power in Padua.
The double loggia of the Accademia and the adjacent rooms visible today constituted the residence of the Princes. Sleek and elegant columns of rose-colored Veronese marble, embellished by the use of wooden architraves, enclose a vast space once used as a garden. In 1345 the outer loggia was closed to carve out a place of prayer dedicated to the family and numerous guests, the Chapel of the Reggia Carrarese: to decorate the space, Guariento, who executed a cycle of scenes from the Old Testament between 1355 and 1360, was called in to decorate the space.
During the nineteenth century, the “Ricovrati” of the Accademia Patavina decided to knock down a wall of the chapel to enlarge the Sala delle Adunanze. They removed from the ceiling the panels with the famous Angels, now preserved in the Civic Museum of Padua, enlarged the windows by interrupting the frescoes, and walled up part of the loggia by building a chimney.
In 1917 the loggia was freed from the superstructure and the portico with columns was restored. In the Sala delle Riunioni, the original fresco cycle arranged in two bands and the plinth decorated with faux marble panels are still largely visible. The decoration of the Hall also includes a very valuable plan, dating from 1784, by cartographer Giovanni Valle, the first to use trigonometric calculations in the making of plans, and the original hemicycle bench attributed to the well-known Venetian architect Jappelli.
Learn more about the frescoes in the Chapel of the Carrarese Palace.
