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CASTELFRANCO |
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CASTELFRANCO VENETO once stood on the western edge of Treviso's
territory, and battlemented brick walls that the Trevisans threw round
the town in 1199 to protect it against the Paduans still encircle most
of the old centre (or castello ). Of all the walled towns of the Veneto,
only two - Cittadella - bear comparison with Castelfranco, and the place
would merit an expedition on the strength of this alone. But
Castelfranco was also the birthplace of Giorgione and possesses a
painting that single-handedly vindicates Vasari's judgement that
Giorgione's place in Venetian art is equivalent to Leonardo da Vinci's
in that of Florence.
The painting in question - The Madonna and Child with SS Francis and
Liberale , usually known simply as the Castelfranco Madonna - hangs in
the Duomo (daily: summer 8am-noon & 3.30-7pm; winter 9am-noon & 3-6pm),
in a chapel to the right of the chancel. Giorgione is the most elusive
of all the great figures of the Renaissance: including the Castelfranco
Madonna , only six surviving paintings can indisputably be attributed to
him, and so little is known about his life that legends have
proliferated to fill the gaps - for instance, the one that attributes
his death in 1510, aged not more than 34, to his catching bubonic plague
from a mistress. The paintings themselves have compounded the enigma,
and none is more mysterious than this one, in which formal abstraction
is combined with an extraordinary fidelity to physical texture, while
the demeanour of the figures suggests a melancholic preoccupation. It
was commissioned to commemorate Matteo Costanza, towards whose tombstone
the gazes of the three figures are directed. You'll notice piles of
coins in a space beneath a grill underfoot: there's no legend here, it's
just an air-conditioning vent - not that the superstitious seem to mind.
The minor works by Palma Vecchio and others in the sacristy are worth a
look, though the experience is somewhat anticlimactic after the Madonna
; ask the sacristan to let you in.
In a first-floor room of the adjacent Casa Giorgione there's a rather
dull chiaroscuro frieze that's wishfully attributed to the artist (Tues-Sun
9am-12pm & 3-6pm; often closed weekday mornings in winter; L2500/1.29),
and an exhibition of reproductions (the originals are scattered around
the world, mostly in Washington and the UK), just to show you what
you're missing.
To get from the train station to the centre, turn left as you leave the
station, then follow the curve of the road to the right, heading
straight up Borgo Pieve to the southeast corner of the town walls. The
walled city is tiny, and even a gentle stroll will quickly get you from
one end to the other, but a good way to soak in the atmosphere is to eat
at the restaurant Al Castello , at via Preti 11, just 200m down from the
Duomo, which has outside tables and serves excellent, reasonably priced
lunches.
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