The Palace of the crossed destinies and a club neither young nor old

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:17:45 +0000
Num. 35

Magagnini-Roverella Palace and Merchants Club: a piece of the history of Ferrara

A few days before the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy the 'Casino dei Negozianti' (Merchants Club) was founded in Ferrara: it was February 26th, 1861. With the return to freedom following the plebiscite of 1860, Ferrara had expressed its adherence to the constitutional monarchy and began to seriously reflect on

the major political and social issues, both on a local and national level, that needed to be tackled and solved: housing, education, land reclamation, the defence of the territory, roads, welfare, employment, public health, etc. The effective creation of a 'civil' Ferrara, together with the rigorous selection of political personnel at all levels of government, became indispensable and could no longer be postponed.

The Municipal Art Gallery in Ferrara displays a painting by Giovanni Pagliarini (1809-1878) La famiglia del Plebiscito, which reproduces an austere image of the two founding members of the Merchants Club - Felice Bortoletti, and his son-in-law, Gaetano Casanova. The portrait resembles a political manifesto and, in its own way, illustrates the non-traumatic transition from the events of the Renaissance to the hitherto unknown associative experiences.

The relationship between the "Club" and the city was appreciably consolidated in the nineteenth century when the lawyer, Count Carlo Giustiniani - second president of the "Merchants", became the first elected Mayor of Ferrara in 1889. Since its foundation in 1861 until today, amid renewed difficulties and a marked change in its socia l and professional membership, the Merchants Club continues to be a constant reference point for many artistic, cultural and leisure-time activities that are carried out on its premises. Initially the Club found hospitality in the rooms of the old 'Locanda dei Tre Mori', but in 1869, it moved into the larger and more prestigious Palazzo Magnanini-Roverella, in Corso Giovecca. The palace was built around 1508, probably by Biagio Rossetti, and was perhaps the last of those designed at the end of the 'Addizione Erculea' period. The owner of the building, Girolamo Magnanini was an important character within the Este dynasty bureaucracy. Two centuries later the powerful Roverella family bought the building and the name has remained as Magnanini-Roverella. Two unusual events, related to complicated issues regarding international politics, took place in the palace. The first was from 1549 to 1551 when the Magnaninis were obliged to lease the building to Beatrice de Luna, a rich Portuguese Jewess, who had obtained a safe-conduct from Ercole II d'Este, authorizing her to "come, stay, live, converse, worship in the synagogue, negotiate and carry out her business". Grazia Nasi (her real name) arrived in Ferrara with a large following, and the Magnanini palace immediately became a sort of Portuguese Embassy, where meetings were held, launching cultural and religious initiatives aimed at curbing the spread of European Sephardicism and encouraging the return to the true faith of the Fathers. The second event, a veritable forced occupation of the building, took place in the nineteenth century. This time the Magnanini-Roverella palace was taken over by Major General Baron Giovanni Rhon di Rhonau, the Austrian commander of the fortress. Splendid Viennese balls and receptions were held, reanimating the rooms with intriguing conversations. But in 1859, with the departure of the Austrians, th ese proceedings were suddenly interrupted. After the Roverella period other, less distinguished families, came into possession of the building: the Aventi, Novi and Storari families, the Zamorani brothers and, in 1906, Cavaliere Federico Zamorani. The latter, on his death in 1932, with an unexpected theatrical gesture, bequeathed the property to all Club members, as if to emphasize the ideal link between the cultural activities of the club and the city. And the Merchants Club, as stated in a nineteenth-century song, is still one of the most interesting episodes of intensive collective life in Ferrara.