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NOTE: The Palazzo Comunale (also called Palazzo Gotico; m.n.) is the most notable building in Piacenza; it is one of the earliest of such palaces of municipal life in Italy; it is in itself a most notable and harmonious building, boldly irregular, and gloriously successful in its irregularity, in the colouring and charm of the brickwork and marble, and in the richness of the elaborate terra-cotta decorations. It is the typical Borletto. There is an open ground storey; five lofty pointed arches on square piers of white marble carry an upper storey of red bricks, which is crowned by a marble cornice and the familiar forked or swallow-tailed "Saracenic" battlements. A deligtfully harmonious transition of colour is secured by lines of red and blu-grey marble above the white, and below the string-course, which separetes them from the red brik of the upper storey. Six windows of three lights, embossed under a round arch with a deep archivolt very slightly recessed, are set flat in the wall. They vary in size and detail, and are very elaborately decorated with terra-cotta work. They illuminate the Great Hall, where sat the Council of the State.
The above notes and the picture of the Palazzo Comunale in Piacenza are from the book "VENETIA & NORTHERN ITALY" by Cecil Headlam, illustrated in colour by Gordon Home; J. M. Dent & Co. London; MCMVIII
SOURCES:
1) LE CHIESE DI PIACENZA; Ersilio Fausto Fiorentini; Edizioni TEP, Piacenza; 1985
2) ITALY; A Phaidon Cultural Guide; Prentice-Hall, Inc.; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; 1985
LINKS CHECKED FEBRUARY - 2010
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