Late Baroque palace · early 18th century · Vicenza, Veneto

Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Vicenza

The Palazzo Leoni Montanari is a magnificent late Baroque palace in the heart of Vicenza, located at Contra’ San Corona 25. Built in the early 18th century for the merchant and nobleman Giovanni Leoni, it later passed to the Montanari family and now houses a prestigious art collection owned by the bank Intesa Sanpaolo, open to the public as a museum of Venetian and Russian art.

At a glance

Type: Late Baroque palace and art museum
Period: Early 18th century
Style: Late Baroque
Location: Contra’ San Corona 25, 36100 Vicenza, Veneto
Coordinates: 45.5502° N, 11.5445° E

Overview

The Palazzo Leoni Montanari is one of Vicenza’s most celebrated Baroque buildings, located on Contra’ San Corona, one of the city’s principal streets. Built in the early 18th century, it was designed to express the wealth and ambition of its merchant patron. It now houses exhibition rooms, meeting spaces, and art collections owned by Intesa Sanpaolo, one of Italy’s leading banks, and is open to the public as a cultural venue.

History

The palace was commissioned by Giovanni Leoni, a Vicentine merchant who had accumulated considerable wealth through trade and who sought to create a residence that would rival those of the city’s nobility. Construction took place in the early decades of the 18th century. The building subsequently passed through various noble families, including the Montanari, whose name it now bears alongside that of its original patron. In the modern era it was acquired by Intesa Sanpaolo, which undertook restoration and opened it as a public cultural space.

What you see

The palace presents a richly decorated Baroque facade to Contra’ San Corona, with elaborate carved stone ornament and a strong vertical emphasis. The interior is equally lavish, featuring frescoed ceilings and gilded reception rooms that reflect the ambitions of its 18th-century patrons. The collections displayed inside include an important group of Venetian genre paintings, a significant holding of Russian icons, and decorative arts of the period. The courtyard and garden areas add further spatial interest to the visit.

Cultural significance

The Palazzo Leoni Montanari represents a rare example of ambitious late Baroque architecture in a city better known for its Renaissance and Palladian heritage, offering a counterpoint to the rationalist classicism of Palladio’s buildings nearby. Its Russian icon collection — one of the finest in Italy — gives it international cultural importance beyond its regional context. The palace’s transformation from private residence to public museum demonstrates how Vicenza continues to activate its historic buildings for contemporary cultural use.

Practical information

Address: Contra’ San Corona 25, 36100 Vicenza VI
Opening hours: Check official Intesa Sanpaolo Arte website for current hours
Admission: Check official website; reduced rates may apply for students and groups

Getting there

Contra’ San Corona is in the historic centre of Vicenza, a short walk from Piazza dei Signori and the Basilica Palladiana. Vicenza railway station is approximately 10–12 minutes on foot from the historic centre. City buses serve the central area. Vicenza’s historic centre has restricted traffic; visitors by car should use peripheral car parks and continue on foot or by bicycle.

Sources & resources

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Palace Galleries Mountain Lions is a Baroque building located in Vicenza and dating back to 1678. It houses an important museum (known as the Gallerie d&#39;Italia - Palazzo Leoni Montanari) in which some masterpieces of Venetian painting of the eighteenth century and a collection of ancient Russian icons.

Inside it houses an important museum (known as the Gallerie d&#39;Italia - Palazzo Leoni Montanari) in which some masterpieces of Venetian painting of the eighteenth century and a collection of ancient Russian icons are collected.



The precious collection traces all the pictorial genres that made Venice at the center of the international art scene in the eighteenth century.

In a show all en plein air, the extraordinary views - whose perspective and suggestions of light can be admired - portray Venice and other cities of northern Italy, created by great masters such as Canaletto, Luca Carlevarijs, Francesco Guardi, Michele Marieschi, Francesco Albotto, Francesco Zuccarelli.

Famous is the corpus of paintings by Pietro Longhi and his followers, which depict the Venetian society of the time in small-format canvases in bright colors and with a strong taste for the news.

Of particular interest is also The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Agostino Fasolato, a virtuosic sculpture composed of sixty figures carved in a single piece of Carrara marble.



The palace was born from the need of the Leoni Montanari family to promote themselves socially within the Vicenza nobility. During the second half of the seventeenth century the family had in fact earned a solid position in the production and trade of fabrics and the construction of the building served as a testimony to its ambitions of social emancipation. The palace was built where the Montanari Lions already owned their own buildings, welcoming inside the house rooms for the spinning of silk. This choice had repercussions on the style of the fa&ccedil;ade and the interiors, which therefore broke away from the Renaissance classicism of Andrea Palladio.

The construction was completed in two distinct phases and ended only in the second half of the eighteenth century. The project was probably signed by the Lombard architect Giuseppe Marchi and by the Borrella building company. Notable artists were called to work such as the painters Giuseppe Alberti and Ludovico Dorigny, the sculptor Angelo Molinari and the family of Andrea Paracca, renowned plasterers of Valsolda. The decorations of 1692 had Greek-Roman mythology as their theme and were made with frescoes by Paolo Pagani.



In 1808 the palace was inherited by Count Girolamo Egidio Velo on the death of his grandmother Laura Conti Montanari. He made important and prestigious archaeological discoveries, he was a passionate collector of Greek and Roman antiquities. The count wanted to enrich the decoration of the noble floor of the building with stuccos and frescoes in the neoclassical style, partially distorting the baroque structure.



After a few further changes of ownership, in 1908 the prestigious townhouse became the property of Banca Cattolica Vicentina, which in 1930 became Banca Cattolica del Veneto. The bank made Palazzo Leoni Montanari its registered office, establishing the general management there. The building was fortunately spared from the violent bombings that, during the Second World War, hit this area of &acirc;&euro;&lsaquo;&acirc;&euro;&lsaquo;the city.



In January 1990, Banco Ambrosiano Veneto took over and chose to free the building from the functions of representation and to make it the seat of the only activities related to the cultural policy of the institute. During the nineties, Palazzo Leoni Montanari was the site of numerous cultural initiatives such as exhibitions, conferences and concerts.

The property is now owned by the Intesa Sanpaolo bank which has included it within the Gallerie d&#39;Italia circuit.

https://culturalheritageonline.com/places/palace-galleries-mountain-lions-l3903/

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