It was Count Luigi Tadini from Cremona (Verona, 1745 – Lovere, 1829) who decided to build a palace on the shore of Lake Iseo to display his art collections to the public and to create a foundation that would include the drawing and music schools, which are still active today. Work began in 1820 with the construction of a chapel in the centre of the garden to house Antonio Canova’s Tadini Stele, a work sculpted by the artist between 1819 and 1821 in memory of his sincere friendship with Faustino Tadini, the son of the count who died prematurely in 1799. There are many traces of the privileged relationship between the sculptor and the Cremasque family, in addition to the precious gift of the terracotta sketch for the Religion, destined for the monument to Clement XIII.
Palazzo Tadini, designed in neoclassical style by the architect Sebastiano Salimbeni, was completed in 1826; inside, a stylish decoration, entrusted to the theatrical stage designer Luigi Dell’Era, frames the exhibition spaces. In 1828 Count Tadini inaugurated the Galleria dell’Accademia Tadini, the second nineteenth-century museum in Lombardy after the Pinacoteca di Brera.
The exhibition is on the main floor of the building and starts with the works from the collection of antiquities and porcelain purchased by the count during his travels in Italy in the last decade of the 18th century and from the rich historical library. Next, the collection of paintings offers important examples of various Italian schools; among the masterpieces are the Madonna and Child by Jacopo Bellini, the Pala Manfron by Paris Bordon and works by Francesco Hayez, including the splendid Ecce Homo.
Information:
Open: From May to September, from Tuesday to Saturday 3.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m., Sundays and holidays 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon; 3.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
April and October: Saturdays 3 p.m. – 7 p.m., Sundays and public holidays 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.; 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Visiting conditions: admission fee
For information and updates, please consult the website
didattica@accademiatadini.it