Palazzo Magnocavalli

Palazzo Magnocavalli is the palace you judge from within rather than without. Begun in 1732 on Via Mameli in Casale Monferrato, it folds an entrance hall, a porticoed court and a famous staircase into a tight urban plot, and now forms part of the municipal complex.

Why it matters

The palace belongs to the generation of Casale building patrons who reshaped the city in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. It was commissioned by Francesco Ottavio Magnocavalli — himself an architect and one of the most active designers working in the Monferrato — and executed by Giacomo Zanetti, the Lugano-born master builder whose workshops also touched Santa Caterina and other city landmarks. What makes it special is the solution it finds for a cramped site: a monumental staircase winding around two columns, achieving a grand effect in a space so narrow that the feat is still cited in architectural descriptions of the city.

What to notice

The entrance hall, framed by pilasters, opens onto the courtyard. The staircase coils around two columns, lit by stairwell windows and framed with stucco; its vault fresco is attributed to Bartolomeo Rusca. At its foot stands a wooden statue dated 1737 by Gerolamo Lurasco, known as il Grisone. The stone portal may be attributable to Benedetto Alfieri, who was working in Casale around 1736, while the balcony balustrade is by the Pelagatta family of marble workers from Viggiù. A west wing closing the courtyard on one side was added in the second half of the eighteenth century, completing the four-sided scheme.

Context and history

The Magnocavalli were one of Casale's leading families, and Francesco Ottavio Magnocavalli (born in Casale in 1707) left a deep mark on the town as patron and designer of churches and palaces in the city and across the Monferrato. His own residence, begun in 1732, brought Zanetti's building yard to Via Mameli, in the stretch where the Treville and San Giorgio palaces also rise. The municipality later acquired the building and connected it at first-floor level with adjacent Palazzo San Giorgio, the town hall. The palace is usually discussed alongside the city's other Settecento residences; stylistic affinity with Benedetto Alfieri has led some descriptions to attribute its design to him, though the documented execution belongs to Zanetti, so the Alfieri link is best treated as a suggestion about the portal rather than a proven overall attribution.