GUALTIERO PADOVANO
(b. ca. 1510, Padova, d. 1552, Padova)

View of the Hall of the Caesars

1550-52
Fresco
Villa Godi Malinverni, Lonedo di Lugo Vicentino

Girolamo Godi, organizer of a Vicenzan literary salon and friend of Pietro Bembo and Alvise Cornaro, engaged Gualtiero around 1550 to decorate the villa. In addition to the loggia, the decoration of four rooms in the right wing of the villa can be ascribed to Gualtiero: the Hall of the Gods or the Putto, the Hall of the Triumphs, the Hall of the Caesars, and the Hall of the Sacrifices. Gualtiero's sudden death in 1552 prevented him from completing the work which was taken over by Battista Zelotti and Battista del Moro, who created the frescoes in the other rooms.

The Hall of the Caesars owes its name to the busts of Roman emperors, painted to imitate bronzes, located above the doors inside faux frames that are richly decorated and inhabited by playful putti. Landscapes, framed by large, arched faux windows, punctuate the long walls. The landscapes are clearly influenced by Flemish painting.