The Villa Giovannelli Colonna is a rural palace which was commissioned in the late 17th century by the Giovanelli family to the architect Antonio Gaspari.
In 1738 Andrea Giovanelli and his brother Benedetto decorated the facade of the Villa with the festive Pronaos and a precious entrance stairway by Giorgio Massari. On the balustrades are six allegorical statues representing the five senses: the Belvedere (sight/male), Il Odorato (smell/male), Il Tatto (touch/female), L'Udire (hearing/female), Il Gusto (taste/female) which are observed by La Ragione. They were executed by Antonio Tarsia, Antonio Gai and by the brothers Paolo and Giuseppe Groppelli.
The interior is frescoed by Sebastiano Ricci and Giuseppe Angeli, who also did the frescos in Villa Widmann-Foscari. The frescos were changed when Federico Giovanelli, Patriarch of Venice, took over the villa. His brothers Giovanni Benedetto and Giovanni Paolo Giovannelli commissioned two large canvases by Luca Carlevarijs. The gardens consist of labyrinths and designs.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.