Series of Statues of the North Façade

Particolate del timpano triangolare nord-orientale (Fototeca ISAL)
Particolate del timpano triangolare nord-orientale (Fototeca ISAL)

The villa’s facade was enriched in 1817, with a series of visually striking statues in Carrara marble, depicting the gods of Olympus.

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The 29 statues, by an unknown author, achieved on the basis of Pelagio Palagi designs, together with those standing above the pilasters of the gate, contribute to conferring dynamism and impetus to the monumental complex, effectively balancing the persistent pursuit of horizontal lines in the villa’s perspectives, which, also because of this dynamic contrast between vertical and horizontal rhythms, offers a very original invention in the panorama of the Brianza villas, like Villa Belgiojoso and the neo-classic mansions built between the 18th and 19th centuries on Venezia street in Milan – showcases of the power of the aristocratic families in Lombardy.
Every statue in the Desio complex evokes, in its pose and draperies, noble composure and observed all together, offer a play of relationships founded on circular forms and conceptual unity: the sculptures at the margins of the villa’s perspectives face the city and give dynamism to the others, aligned and in frontal dialogue with those on the gate. There is a very evident aim to celebrate the commitment to make the complex a kind of palace inhabited by the gods.