Palazzo Maffei represents a unicum in the city’s architectural panorama: facing Piazza delle Erbe, thanks to its characteristic façade adorned with precious and decorative elements, it is an emblem of baroque Verona.
Precisely because of its centrality and historical and artistic importance, the Palazzo was recently the subject of a conservative restoration project initiated by the Veronese entrepreneur Luigi Carlon under the direction of the Baldessari e Baldessari Architetti e Designers studio. The main objective of the project was to give new lustre to the important architecture of the building, in particular the main façade, and the historical square in front of it. At the same time, the lighting design was completely renewed, entrusted to Performance iN Lighting.
Today, Palazzo Maffei houses a splendid House-Museum displaying Luigi Carlon’s private art collection, the fruit of over fifty years of collecting passion. The exhibition itinerary hosts over 350 works including paintings, sculptures, drawings and art objects, distributed over 18 thematic rooms, in an exhibition area of more than 1000 square metres and covering a period ranging from the first centuries of the year 1000 through modern art to contemporary art. With this rich and eclectic collection – which ranges from works by De Chirico, Magritte, Picasso, Duchamp, Balla, Boccioni, Vedova, Manzoni and Fontana – the museum is the new point of reference for art lovers in Verona’s museum scene.
The architectural restoration project required lighting that could harmoniously unite the view of the artistic work and the surrounding environment with the aim of enhancing both without one overpowering the other. The lighting project directed by Paolo Baldessari with the lighting consultancy of Performance iN Lighting required meticulous planning: as it is a historical building, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the provinces of Verona, Rovigo and Vicenza required lighting systems that were not visible or invasive to the monumental context. For this reason, the company supplied and selected products with compact dimensions and miniaturised technology to minimise overall dimensions.
In some cases, Performance iN Lighting designed customised solutions to suit the particular application context, which required special soft glass for all linear projectors to provide a homogenous and diffuse luminous flux to minimise the presence of sharp shadows. Outside, the façade lighting was meticulously calibrated and dimmed to discreetly emphasise the richness of the decorations while creating as little light pollution as possible in the square in front.
The architectural lighting of the first floor enhances the five openings with five NOTTURNO 1000 linear projectors with elliptical optics, which illuminate the surfaces in radiation and enhance the rich decorative carving motifs of the cornice above. For the second floor, NOTTURNO 500 projectors were used instead, due to the lower height of the windows. To crown it all, there is a balustrade with six statues of gods sculpted in local marble, lit in a dramatic and theatrical way thanks to the accent light of FOCUS+ ZERO projectors also at 3000 K. For the illumination of the inner portico, bi-emission MIMIK 20 FLAT wall-mounted luminaires were chosen instead, creating a luminous backdrop that introduces and leads through the striking inner courtyard.
Ph. Renato Begnoni
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