The guided tour of Palazzo Masdoni organized by Ennio Ferrarini, president of the Amici dell’Omozzoli Parisetti association and conducted by the architect Paolo Bedogni, curator of the long restoration operation of which he revealed some details, was a gift offered to the city, which hopefully (let’s say it straight away) it can be replicated. Not only was the experience worth discovering one of the most fascinating historic homes in Reggio Emilia, thanks to the availability of the Bertolani family who opened the doors for us and entrusted us with an authoritative guide, but it proved to be surprising both for those who visited the palace had entered on other occasions and both for those who explored it for the first time.
During the visit to what is considered the best testimony of a patrician residence in Reggio Emilia and a residence of regional historical-artistic value, it was possible to admire the majesty reflected in the architectural complexity of the three-court building, located between via Toschi and via San Filippo , and learn the history of its residents, before arriving at a recent era, when it was the seat of the Reggio Emilia PCI (1954-1991).
The building, visited inside up to the splendid large courtyard, was built in the 18th century, incorporating a 15th century structure, designed by the Reggio Emilia architect Gian Maria Ferraroni, author of important interventions including the Ducal Palace of Rivalta.
The succession in ownership saw the Toschis in 1796 and then the Rocca-Saporiti in the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century the palace was restored by the architect Edoardo Collamarini, who was responsible for the work on the façade on via Toschi. But it is by walking through its rooms that you grasp the wonder of the home and the astonishing play of perspectives that is created between the load-bearing structures and the spaces on which natural light and shadows are refracted.
“See the monumental staircase adorned with stuccos and statues, works by Antonio Schiassi, and prepare to be amazed, and deceived, by the optical illusions of the Music Room – explains Bedogni – embellished with a decoration of perspectives, Telamons and masks, referable to Francesco Vellani”. The music room, whose visit was enlivened by the performance of Beethoven’s Trio opera 8 andante by Elisa Zannoni, violin, Giorgia Simonazzi, viola, and Emanuele Bani, cello, of the Peri-Merulo Conservatory, was the plus of the visit, crowned by the May roses in bloom in the courtyard, surmounted by a Trompe l’Oeil.
