Name: Palazzo Sturm
Address: Via Schiavonetti, Bassano del Grappa, Veneto, Italy
Telephone: +39 0424 519901

Palazzo Sturm, formerly known as Palazzo Ferrari and Palazzo Vanzo Mercante, is a palace in Bassano del Grappa.

Today, Palazzo Sturm is best known for housing two key museums that capture the rich artisanal heritage of Bassano del Grappa – the Ceramics Museum (Museo della Ceramica) and the Remondini Print Museum (Museo della Stampa Remondini).

SHORT HISTORY OF PALAZZO STURM

Palazzo Sturm

Palazzo Sturm was built in the mid-18th century, in the area of Bassano del Grappa called Cornorotto.

The palace incorporated a stretch of walls, a tower and a pre-existing nucleus of 15th-century buildings on the left bank of the Brenta River.

The imposing structure, originally commissioned by Vincenzo Ferrari, an industrialist and silk merchant, was designed by the amateur architect Abbot Daniello Bernardi.

The project included about seventy rooms of various sizes, distributed over seven levels.

The upper floors, which constituted the master’s residence, also had some reception rooms, frescoed and decorated with stucco, with access via an imposing entrance.

The lower floors, which had direct access to the Brenta River, housed the laboratories and workshops for the production of silk, as well as the servants’ quarters.

In 1765, the Venetian painter Giorgio Anselmi elegantly decorated the ceiling and the panels of the upper register of the entrance hall with the depiction of the Fall of the Giants, various allegorical female figures and male sculptures.

The following year, in 1766, an artist, still not identified with certainty, created the stuccos that frame the windows and the mirrors in the lower portion of the walls, the Chariot of the Sun, the Seasons, Bacchus, Diana, Jupiter, and Mercury.

The main floor of Palazzo Sturm, as a whole, constitutes a very refined complex in Rococo style.

The walls of the alcove, covered with wooden panels variously inlaid with engravings and carvings, also have tempera paintings by the Treviso painter Gaetano Zompini.

During the 19th century, under the ownership of Vanzo Mercante, some further architectural modifications were made to the palace.

The building was raised in height and the new roof was connected with the crowning of the loggia-belvedere that was initially open on three sides.

During the 20th century, the municipality of Bassano del Grappa became the owner of the palace by bequest of Baron Giovanni Battista Sturm von Hirschfeld.

CERAMICS MUSEUM

Since 1992, the Ceramics Museum has been located in the palace, and the collection of majolica, porcelain and earthenware is made up of around 1,200 pieces.

The Ceramics Museum pays homage to the local tradition of ceramic art that has been an important part of Bassano’s cultural history since the Renaissance.

The museum features an extensive collection of ceramics, ranging from early pieces dating back to the 16th century to modern works.

The Ceramics Museum gathers a notable collection of Antonibons exhibits from the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the old kitchen of the palace, popular plates are displayed, while the lower floor collects works by internationally renowned artists.

REMONDINI PRINT MUSEUM

Since September 15, 2007, the same building also houses the Remondini Museum, one of the few in Italy dedicated to printing.

The Remondini Print Museum, located on the upper floors, celebrates the Remondini family, who were pioneering printers and publishers in Bassano during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Remondini family became famous for their high-quality prints, religious images, and playing cards, which were exported throughout Europe and even as far as South America.

The museum includes rare prints, lithographs, and a collection of printing tools and machinery that offer insight into historical printing techniques and the family’s influence on the European print industry.

The material on display is very varied (books, decorated papers, popular sacred and profane engravings, games) and includes etchings and woodcuts by great Italian and European engravers, including Dürer, Mantegna, and Giambattista Tiepolo.