Palazzo Sannazzaro

On Via Mameli in Casale Monferrato, Palazzo Sannazzaro combines traces of an older building with an eighteenth-century baroque transformation. Its wrought-iron balcony, elaborate window frames and decorated rooms express the culture of the city's aristocratic residences.

Why it matters

The palace illustrates how Casale's noble families reshaped existing houses rather than always building anew. Commissioned in the early eighteenth century by Count Gian Battista Sannazzaro, it preserves an earlier architectural layer within a more theatrical composition of facade, courtyard and principal rooms.

What to notice

Remains of pointed arches and terracotta decoration reveal the older structure. The principal windows have ornamental stucco surrounds, while the balcony rests on lion-paw supports beneath a flowing wrought-iron railing. Columns frame the porticoed courtyard. In the ballroom, Pietro Francesco Guala's ceiling allegory of the arts connects the palace with the city's eighteenth-century painting.

Context and history

The earlier Gothic fabric was remodelled during the 1700s. The transformation has been tentatively associated with Vincenzo Scapitta, but its architectural authorship is not certain. The richly decorated piano nobile, with frescoes, gilded frames and overdoor paintings, records the palace's role as a setting for aristocratic domestic life and display.