Italian
From aristocratic residence to pioneer in the fight against pellagra, this ancient Venetian mansion carries with it a series of fascinating stories that intertwine between eighteenth-century frescoes and noble acts of altruism.
MOGLIANO VENETO (TV) – We interviewed Avv. Enrico Specchio, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Gris Institute, about the many lives and stories that have shaped the legacy of one of the most renowned villas in Mogliano Veneto: Villa Torni.
Villa Torni is a Venetian Villa that has had a very peculiar destiny. Dating back to the seventeenth century, the complex in the Mogliano area consists of the main house and two lower buildings that connect it to the barns. It is a classic villa that respects the traditional internal division, with a moderately-sized oratory located at the eastern end of the property.
Inside the rooms of the Villa, there are eighteenth-century frescoes attributed to Giambattista Crosato, depicting scenes from the Gerusalemme liberata and allegorical subjects. Above the door on the west wall is reproduced the coat of arms of the Torni family. It is worth mentioning that Crosato worked in Turin, where he was commissioned to decorate the Queen’s Villa, and in Venice, where he decorated other buildings, including Ca’ Pesaro and Villas such as Villa Torni.
The last heir of the Torni family, Marco Battistiol, as often happened when there was no direct descendant, left the Villa di Mogliano to the Congregazione di Carità di Venezia. We can talk, since then, about this legacy of a social function that will continue until today. It will be Costante Gris who will acquire the Villa, also with the help of other noble and wealthy Venetians, to turn it into Italy’s first pellagra hospital. A story that makes this enlightened man from Mogliano one of the most visionary men of his time, who fought to find a solution to the serious problem of pellagra, which was afflicting our countryside and beyond.
