Palazzetto Eucherio Sanvitale, Renaissance palace in Parma, Italy.
Palazzetto Eucherio Sanvitale is a small late-15th-century palace in Parma's Parco Ducale with an H-shaped plan, four corner towers and two five-arch Tuscan-column loggias. Two inscriptions are carved over its entrances: DII FACIENTES ADIUVANT and DII BONA LABORANTIBUS VENDUNT. Inside, a large through-hall opens onto smaller rooms, and two rooms have umbrella vaults with 16 ribs.
The Humiliati friars of San Michele in Bosco built the casino; after passing to Scipione Dalla Rosa, it was bought in 1526 by Gian Galeazzo Sanvitale, count of Fontanellato, who gave it to his son Eucherio in 1547. Eucherio, bishop of Viviers, sold it on 19 March 1561 to duke Ottavio Farnese for 2000 gold scudi. In 1840 duchess Maria Luigia added rooms between the south turrets, creating a first floor.
The name Casino degli Umiliati recalls the Humiliati friars of San Michele in Bosco, who had the building erected. In the Sala del Pergolato, painted trees at the four corners seem to hold up a trellis under an open sky, while the Sala del Velario imitates an awning with coloured bands, cameos and transparent spheres. The chapel in the south-east turret, painted in oil on wall with scenes from the life of the Virgin, served Ranuccio I Farnese for spiritual retreat in the early 17th century.
The palazzetto stands inside the Parco Ducale at number 27a, a short walk from the park entrances; the building itself is in a state of abandonment, so visitors see the exterior and the loggias rather than furnished rooms. The 1975 restoration by Silvia Baroni and Camillo Tarozzi uncovered the frescoes, but no regular opening is documented.
Each room in the palace displays different Renaissance craftsmanship techniques and design choices, showing the variety of artistic traditions of that era. These variations between spaces tell of different construction phases and the various artistic influences that shaped the building.
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