CROSATO, Giovanni Battista
(b. ca. 1685, Treviso, d. 1758, Venezia)

Rezzonico Coat-of-Arms

1752-56
Fresco
Ca' Rezzonico, Venice

The great hall of festivities was designed to hold receptions, balls and musical entertainments and is quite original, also in terms of its size (14 x 24 metres): it is the largest existing room in a private Venetian residence. The real space of the room seems to be the centre of a larger imaginary area that extends beyond the false architecture painted on the walls. These trompe l'oeils, or the vanishing perspective of architectural elements used to artificially extend the real space, are generally attributed to Pietro Visconti, a perspective painter from Lombardy. The fresco in the middle of the ceiling and the fine monochromes at the centre of each wall, however, are by Giovanni Battista Crosato. The family coat of arms is shown between gilt drapery at the centre of the main wall, facing the main doorway to the room, while the double-headed eagle recurs on capitals pictured as bronzes on the false frescoed pilasters.