PIAZZA SAN LEONARDO
Amongst the buildings which surround the piazza, other than
the church which gives it its name, stands the Palazzo
Spineda, typical example of a small renaissance
aristocratic palace: a symmetrical structure with
characteristic tri-partite windows which opens into a
central salon. It was built towards the middle of the 16th
century and renovated in the 18th century. Now it is the
central seat of the Unicredit Bank of Treviso. Internally, it is
elegantly furnisched, and still houses some fresco work: along the walls of the central room, frescoes by Gaspare
Diziani, 1748; and in a room on the piano nobile, frescoes
painted in 1790 by Basilio Lasinio, inspired by Veronese's
work in Villa Barbaro, Maser. The fountain found in front of
Palazzo Spineda originally adorned the palace's garden; it
now appears as an isolated element.
PIAZZA RINALDI
This piazza, once used for a vegetable market, is named
after one of the most illustrious families of Treviso. The
Palazzo, built in the second half of the 15th century,
which housed the Rinaldi family still exists though
much altered in the following century. On the first floor,
above the tri-partite window with its round arches and
balcony, is the 15th sentury crest of the Rinaldi family. On
the facade facing the piazza is found a small loggia with an
original portico, oriental in style, which housed fragments
of frescoes depicting triumphal processions. In the piazza, there are another two lordly abodes of the Rinaldi: that to
the west, has a splendid renaissance, quadruple lancet
window, the other, now the municipal offices, has a
decidedly 16th century exterior, but internally the salon is
completely frescoed in the fake tapestries and floral
ornaments of the 13th century. Both these palazzi owe their
recent restorations to the ex Saving Bank's administration
and the Town Council of Treviso. Over the centuries, they
had been repeatedly altered and damaged, due to war and
human intervention. Other interesting buildings facing Piazza
Rinaldi include the ex Osteria alla Colonna of the 17th century which takes its name from the high column in the
centre of the open ground floor, fully restored in 1984. At
the beginning of this century, it was the meeting place of
several major italin artists such as Arturo Martini, Gino
Rossi and Giovanni Comisso.
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