The Manin family, documented in
Florence since 1,000, and reputed to be descended from the Roman family of the Manlii, arrived in
Friuli (
Aquileia and
Cividale) in the late C12, in exile as a result of the struggles between the
Guelphs and Ghibellines. They built a significant mercantile presence in the region and, by siding with Venice in power struggles against the Patriarchate of Aquilea, they soon developed their position within the hierarchy of the Republic of Venice and were ennobled as Counts. By the sixteenth century Antonio Manin had bought the
gastaldato of
Sedegliano and decided to place an impressive
manor house at its centre, in Passariano. The first construction of the villa was between 1650 and 1660 at the behest of Count Antonio Manin. Although the original villa was grand, and some of its fabric remains within the existing buildings, the monumental architectural complex that can be seen now is the result of major alterations and additions by Antonio’s descendants. By the start of the C18, the Manin family had accrued huge wealth; at the beginning of the 18th century they owned well over 12,000 hectares (about 30,000 acres). The family’s holdings stretched from Polesine to Istria with land scattered from Rovigo to Padua, from Vicenza to Belluno, and as far as the provinces of Gorizia and Trieste. The Manin family built the palace in Udine and were significant philanthropists, supporting the ecclesiastical hierarchies with significant contributions of and to religious buildings in Venice, such as the construction of the Jesuit church and the chapel of San Giuseppe degli Scalzi, and again in Udine, with the building of the chapel of the same name, the renovation of spaces inside the cathedral and restorations and improvements to San Pietro Martire. Lodovico I and Francesco IV, aided by the architect Giuseppe Benone, had added to the villa in the late C17 but it was transformed in the C18 by Lodovico II and Lodovico III (known as Alvise). First the Venetian architect
Domenico Rossi designed and enclosed the huge square courtyard in front of the villa (1707) and then added the monumental
exedra (1718). Between 1730 and 1740 Giovanni Ziborghi added height to Rossi’s barchesse (grange wings) that formed either side of the courtyard. Finally the central core of the villa achieved its current form in 1745, under the supervision of
Giorgio Massari. The totality of the complex at Passariano was calculated to impress not only fellow noblemen of the Venetian Republic but also rival powers, including the Church. No one could fail to notice the scale of the buildings or the architectural references to St Peter’s Square in Rome in the form of the sweeping
exedra. The 18 hectares of parkland behind the villa seem to have been to the design of the Manin’s then "master of the house", Ziborghi. Substantial changes in the nineteenth century, especially by
Giannantonio Selva, added to the original landscape with a great deal of tree planting, including the like-for-like replanting of some of the original scheme. File:Villa manin, pianta.JPG|Plan of the complex File:Villa Manin (1).JPG|View of a statue in the garden
Chapel of Sant'Andrea The chapel of Sant'Andrea (
St. Andrew), was built in 1708, at the same time as the original barchesse, to designs by
Domenico Rossi. It is attached to the northern barchessa and to the east of the gate arch. The building served both the village, accessed it from outside the courtyard, and the family, who could gain access from within. The building is an
octagon). The entrance façade has two pairs of columns at either side and has a pediment adorned with statues and marble groups by Pietro Baratta. Inside, in the sacristy, there are two marble altars by
Giuseppe Bernardi-Torretti, and in the hall two other marble altars with
altarpieces worked in relief, also by Torretti.
Decoration As well as being a fine piece of architecture, the villa is also important for its eighteenth-century artworks. The villa is decorated with frescoes by
Ludovico Dorigny,
Jacopo Amigoni and
Pietro Oretti, paintings by
Francesco Fontebasso and sculptures by Torretti. In a room in the eastern part of the villa, in 1708 the Parisian Ludovico Dorigny frescoed a domed ceiling with the
Triumph of Spring and four smaller surrounding ovals with the allegories of
Love, Glory, Wealth, Abundantia. His painting, in cool and dazzling colours highlights elegant figures on a background of clear skies, with (
cherubs and
nymphs on clouds going beyond the frame), and follows the conventions of the time. On the walls, in
monochrome on a golden background, there are scenes with
Apollo and
Mars,
Venus and
Bacchus, the
Judgement of Paris, and
Pan and
Syrinx between various allegorical figures. The paintings show the
chiaroscuro of French taste, and inspired the young
Tiepolo, who was called to work at the
Archbishopric of Udine in 1726–1730. == Recent history ==