Villa Pompei Carlotti

The Pompei family of Illasi was of patrician origin, and their presence in the Veronese territory can be traced back to the year 900. From that moment and for many centuries, the Pompei were owners of much of the village, with properties in Illasi, Santa Giustina, and Arano.

Villa Pompei Carlotti is located on one side of the main square of the village. In 1652, Giovanni Paolo Pompei purchased a small building and between 1683 and 1687 expanded it with the architect Vincenzo Pallesina; in 1700, Alessandro Pompei decided to build a chapel dedicated to Coelorum Regina.

Today, it houses the tombs of the last Pompei and Giulio Carlotti (who inherited the property after the death of the last Pompei).

The complex, with a "U" shape and the front facing south, consists of the central body with two floors and a basement, two perpendicular wings, and two square-based towers. In the center, there is a large pronaos with four Doric columns topped by a triangular pediment, connecting on the sides with the two pre-existing "barchesse". The structure of the villa recalls the grandeur of an ancient Greek temple and is enriched by balustrades with sculptures by Andrea Schiavi. The setting of this central body is Palladian, but it differs from other models by this architect due to its more austere and sober style that foreshadows, in the full Rococo period, Neoclassicism. 
To complete the complex, there is a small chapel adjacent to the east tower, a long "barchessa" (converted into stables), and the vast Italian garden that surrounds the villa.

The plan of the first and second floors of the central body follows the distribution type of the Venetian villa with a central passing salon and the four adjacent rooms.

Internally, the rooms on the noble floor are all frescoed. The frescoes were entrusted to Antonio Balestra, a famous Veronese painter and master of Alessandro Pompei; however, many other artists were also involved. The central salon is accessed directly from the façade and is completely decorated with an architectural apparatus divided into two zones by a string course. The lower part is adorned with pairs of fluted columns and twelve paintings of statue representations. On the east and west walls are depicted two scenes from Greek mythology: the Kidnapping of Helen and The Killing of Achilles. Above the doors in oval frames, there are representations of: Boreas abducting Orithyia, Rape of Deianira, Rape of Europa and Aurora abducting Cephalus.
Above the windows in shaped frames are: Ariadne abandoned, Danae and the golden rain, Leda and the swan. In the upper zone, there are twelve "putti".
On the ceiling, there is depicted the Triumph of Love, according to Petrarchan iconology, in an elaborate architectural frame.
The frescoes in the southeast and northwest salons are attributed to Matteo Brida, a student of Antonio Balestra. The southeast salon is part of the cycle of frescoes with Stories of the Life of Alexander the Great, drawn from Parallel Lives by Plutarch. The northwest salon, on the other hand, recalls the events of Jerusalem Delivered, the poem by Torquato Tasso. The frescoes reveal Brida's cartoonish approach, interpreting literature through a caricature-like, almost grotesque painting.

In later times, two other famous Veronese painters, Tommaso Porta and his son Andrea, intervened, painting scenes of imaginary landscapes, also including local elements, such as the castle of Illasi. Their frescoes demonstrate an openness to the landscape, a bucolic approach to nature typical of a certain cultural current of the time. 
The frescoes in the north and south salons are dedicated to Greek mythology, depicting the tales of Venus, Apollo, Aurora, Eros, Cronos, and other deities.
There is a clear proximity of the author to the models of Antonio Balestra in the use of painting technique, with lighter strokes to achieve the effect of chiaroscuro and in the reconstruction of poses and faces.