Palazzo Magnifica Comunità

"The Palace of the Magnificent Community of Fiemme"

In the historic center of Cavalese stands the majestic Palace of the Magnificent Community of Fiemme one of the most representative works of the entire Trentino art scene, a symbol of the ancient traditions of self-government and autonomy of the local population. The building was born in the fourteenth century as the seat of the bishop's vicar, appointed to collect taxes and administer justice, was later also used as a summer residence by the bishops of Trentino who were involved in major campaigns for expansion and beautification of the structure. The most important were those conducted by Bernardo Clesio (1514 - 1539) and Cristoforo Madruzzo (1539 - 1567) who, between 1537 and 1540, gave impetus to a comprehensive program of renovation of the building involving the workshop of Vicenza Marcello Fogolino ( 1480 - post 1548) artist, multipurpose, active even at the Castle of Good Counsel and other delTrentino residences. With the secularization of the episcopal principality, the building was entrusted to the Bavarian government, since 1808, he turned it into a prison. In 1850 the building was purchased by the General Community of Fiemme with the intention of making its institutional headquarters. Today the noble residence, reopened to the public in July 2012, after five years of restoration, it is a museum. His gallery is made up of the paintings of the greatest representatives of the pictorial di Fiemme School, active between the mid-seventeenth and late nineteenth century in the major centers of Europe, such as Vienna and Rome. The salon in which we find ourselves is, historically, the most important of the whole architectural complex. The name of Hall of Chiefs for, or the Audience Hall, refer to secular court function; a place in which the Vicar-judge and the Board of Jurors di Fiemme, chaired by Scario, administered justice. Bernardo Clesio devoted particular attention to the frescoes of the known room, too, with the name of Salon Cles. The paintings, full of references to classical art and antiquities, reach, in this room, the pinnacle of formal and decorative expressed refinement, masterfully, in solid bodies, massive and timeless of the countless figures that populate the walls. The themes expressed by the frescoes concern the vice, which must be punished, and virtue embodied in the figures of the Prince Bishop of Trento and in the Fiemme judges.