Palazzo Brentano, Corbetta, Baroque palazzo in Corbetta, Italy.
Palazzo Brentano is a late Baroque palace on Vicolo del Ghiaccio in Corbetta, built on a U-shaped plan. A 18th-century gate with six pillars and three openings stands on the street; the taller central block is flanked by two lower wings and two belvedere turrets. A granite portico with six columns leads into the ground floor.
Carlo Giuseppe Brentano, Count of Caltignaga and treasurer general of the Duchy of Milan, bought the site from Marquis Ferrante Villani-Novati on 10 September 1731. Work to Francesco Croce's design began in February 1732 and was finished in 1738. The Brentano family sold the palace in 1839; after several owners it passed to the Somaschi Fathers in 1935.
The interior decoration with stuccoes and frescoes was carried out around the mid-18th century by painters who had worked in Milanese palaces such as Palazzo Clerici and Palazzo Casati Dugnani. Giovanni Antonio Cucchi painted the Apotheosis of Hercules in the central hall, while Ferdinando Porta painted the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche in the main hall. Other artists involved were Giovanni Angelo Borroni, Mattia Bortoloni, Giuseppe Pellegrini and Giovanni Battista Sassi.
The building houses an educational institute today and is maintained by religious orders, so visits may be restricted. It is best to check ahead about visiting possibilities and access conditions before planning your visit.
The gate's six pillars once carried "genietti" figures representing Pleasure and Honesty, plus smaller figures bearing the Brentano coat of arms, as Marcantonio Dal Re recorded in 1743; these sculptures are now lost. The pink granite columns of the former thirty-horse stable still support cross vaults.
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