Palazzo Lambertenghi

Palazzo Lambertenghi is a private residence in Como dating from the early seventeenth century. Although much of its original painted decoration was lost during twentieth-century restoration, the surviving frescoes of the Sala Recchi and a ground-floor hall preserve fragments of the palace’s artistic history.

Why it matters

The palace offers a rare surviving example of Como’s seventeenth-century domestic decoration. Built by joining earlier houses, it preserves the Sala Recchi and a ground-floor fresco by Giovan Battista Recchi, among the few remains of a more extensive painted programme. The building’s privately owned status has helped shape how its interiors have been encountered over time.

What to notice

The exterior on Via Lambertenghi is restrained, while the surviving interior decoration is concentrated in the Sala Recchi and the ground-floor hall facing the garden. The Sala Recchi’s painted vault preserves allegorical imagery associated with Comasco art of the seventeenth century. The surviving fragments are particularly significant because most of the palace’s earlier fresco decoration was lost during later restoration.

Context and history

Palazzo Lambertenghi took shape in the early seventeenth century by combining pre-existing buildings; work was still under way in 1618. The Lambertenghi family retained ownership into the eighteenth century, followed by the Guaita, Lucini Passalacqua and Galli di Rondineto families. Twentieth-century restorations removed much of the original fresco decoration. The surviving Recchi fresco and the painted vault of the Sala Recchi are remnants of the palace’s earlier decorative programme.