This page: the crest of the Clavarino family, one of the original patrician families of 15th-century Genoa.
Opposite: on the piano nobile, Kentia palms in cotto dell’Impruneta pots sway above a slate and marble floor
genoese sponge
Liguria’s capital loves visual trickery, and with its rich trompe-l’oeil frescoes the 16th-century Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola has clearly absorbed the local aesthetic. Bankrolling a major restoration, owner Carlo Clavarino, whose patrician family has deep roots here, waved his own wand, adding hidden doors, faux marquetry and paint masquerading as velvet. Christopher Garis soaks up the sleight of hand. Photography: Massimo Listri
It began as a whim. Carlo Clavarino, a marchese whose roots in Liguria go back six centuries, was at lunch in an impeccably kept palace in Genoa when his host whispered that it was for sale. Throughout the meal the thought burrowed its way in, and later that day he called his brother Roberto to get his opinion. ‘The only palazzo worth buying is Angelo Giovanni Spinola,’ he said, referring to one of the larger buildings in Via Garibaldi. This might just have been a throw-away dismissal of the idea, but Clavarino took it as a challenge. Soon after Carlo and Roberto bought that same 16th-century palace.
Now the brothers had to go shopping. Carlo, a savvy and successful businessman, scoured auction houses for pieces related to his family, the building and the street. But as he ventured into the renovation, the hiring of builders, painters and workmen, it became clear a helping hand was needed. Eventually he called his friend Osanna Visconti, the furniture designer known for her bronze creations, and things started to take shape. ‘I’ll be a consultant, but only if you hire Nicolò Castellini Baldissera [WoI June 2017] as the decorator.’ And thus the team was formed.
The task in hand was no small matter. Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola is a jewel situated along a strand of such buildings on one of the Strade Nuove, or new streets, laid out in the Renaissance. But this one stands out for its lavish frescoes, its rich façades, ceilings and walls, but especially for its place in the city’s history. Medieval Genoa functioned as an aristocratic oligarchy similar to Venice: patricians elected a doge for a fixed term and participated in the running of the city. But unlike La Serenissima, which supplemented shipping prowess with the manufacture of lace, glass and other valuable goods, Genoa complemented its port activity with banking. Both cities developed a reputation for wealth and hospitality, but the republic remained less showy, less decadent and prudent in the way financial centres are wont to be. But it was no less grand, and in fact was nicknamed La Superba.
The palazzo was designed and built by architect Giovanni Ponzello between 1558 and 1576 and commissioned by Spinola – ambassador to Spain and banker to the Emperor Charles V. It was this financial connection with Spain at the dawn of the first exploration of Latin America that made the city what it is today. If Venice had the upper hand as a funnel for goods during the Crusades, Genoa won out funding the New World conquistadors.
A feature of Genoa is visual trickery, which celebrates the region’s ability to make do with few materials, necessary for a city state hemmed in between rocky coves and sheer mountain peaks. Indeed, the grand tradition of Lig urian trompe-l’oeil façades and frescoed interiors contrasts with the explosion of marble to be found in Saint Mark’s basilica or the Cosmatesque inlaid floors of Ca’ d’Oro. This mentality inspired the palazzo’s design team. The guest bedrooms (there are 12) are shared out between the first-floor mezzanine and the second floor. There
The Great Room, deployed for large dinners and other events, is anchored by an imposing crystal chandelier that was one of the few pre-existing pieces tied to the historic listing of the palazzo. The two perspectival frescoes on either side visually extend the already expansive floor area
Unusually, the palazzo contains highly detailed frescoes on both walls and ceilings. Here a scene by the Calvi brothers merges with the setting, where polychromatic marble busts on plinths stand amid Baroque furniture
Opposite: old master paintings by Van Dyck and Rubens look down on sofas upholstered in C&C Milano velvet. They rest on Agra carpets that offer visual stepping stones along the enfilade. This page: strapwork appliqué on velvet contratagliato covers a Baroque chair
This page: old master portraits survey a set of Italian Louis XVI chairs. Opposite: with its faux-marquetry wallpaper taken from Renzo Mongiardino’s archives, the library was executed by San Patrignano, a drug-rehabilitation design community, and has a secret jib door
Top: in a small dining room hangs a tapestry from the workshop of Jan Raes in Brussels, based on cartoons by Rubens. Above: the tragedy of Sophonisba is an opera favourite. On the Great Room’s ceiling, the Carthaginian princess is seen reaching for a poison chalice
Top: this ceiling fresco depicts the maritime Battle of Actium, in which Octavian defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Above: Antonio Semini’s fresco in the drawing room shows the original palazzo and garden (added to the property in 1580) in an imaginary bucolic setting
Castellini Baldissera worked with Milan-based specialist painters Pictalab and local Alessandra Lagomarsini to create various faux effects to replicate wood panelling, colourful mouldings and even patterned wallpaper. In one, Pictalab painted the walls in antique red velvet to give the appearance of a full-room upholstery, and extend the effect set by a 17th-century fragment embroidered with gold lace that the decorator hung as a headboard. The Genoese silk velvet, dyed a crimson that contemporary merchants would have called incarnadine, has taken on a distinct patterning over the years, and Pictalab has expanded this outwards, celebrating the mottled grain of the fabric.
Clavarino’s bedroom is the only one to be found on the piano nobile. It’s accessed by a hidden door in the library, whose boiseries have been layered with wallpaper to suggest hand-carved marquetry. It’s a clever trick aligned with the local principle of seeking a high return on investment and was created by San Patrignano, a drug-rehabilitation community design centre whose president is the marchese This same design team, led by Sandro Pieri, constructed the wardrobes and built-in bathroom basins throughout the palazzo. For the boiserie pattern, they used the vast archives supplied by designer Renzo Mongiardino, who helped create San Patrignano’s vocational programmes. Its artisans now work with all manner of creative concerns, from Burberry to the architect Peter Marino.
Back on the piano nobile, the playful touches become fewer as formality returns to centre stage. Osanna Visconti contributed several coffee tables, her textured bronzes cast to mimic raffia. Castellini Baldissera paired these with blue velvet sofas of his own design and 18th-century Genoese gilt chairs that had belonged to Gianni and Marella Agnelli – now covered in an Etro leopard print. This layering of provenance-rich antiques and new upholstery overlooked by old masters exudes a confident grandeur.
Since its completion, Clavarino has begun to throw open the doors of his palazzo. Recently, he hosted a weekend in Genoa for a hundred guests, illuminating the mystery of the city. The goal is to use the residence on Via Garibaldi as a kind of beacon, rekindling the fire of one of the world’s ancient cultural centres. In 2006 the palazzo, along with 41 others, was added to the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites as one of the rolli of Public Lodgings in Genoa. In order to host European royalty and other luminaries of the Renaissance, the patrician class created a number of ‘lists’ of palaces that could provide temporary accommodation. It was a way of sharing the burden (and advantages) of hosting the rich and powerful of the 16th century. In opening up Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola once more, Clavarino has revived the building, not only in body but also in spirit, as a place to which visitors can come, stay and delight in ‘La Superba’ $ Osanna Visconti. Ring 00 39 0284 190134, or visit osannavisconti. com. Nicolò Castellini Baldissera. Ring 00 39 348 299 4914, or visit nicolocastellinibaldissera.com
Decorator Nicolò Castellini Baldissera worked with paint studio Pictalab to evoke worn velvet walls – a trompe l’oeil inspired by the antique gold-embroidered fabric fragment hung as a headboard above a Baroque bed complete with gilt Solomonic columns. Locations editor: Gianluca Longo
