In the countryside just outside the city of Modena,
in Saliceto Panaro, there is a magnificent and very
elegant aristocratic villa that was originally built
several centuries ago when the Este Dukedom expanded
its boundaries all the way to the Dukedom of Parma
and Piacenza to the West and to the Pontifical Legation
to the East. The villa boasts a long and fascinating
history.
In July 1979, the Pastorelle nuns of the Congregation
of Sisters of Jesus Good Shepherd ceded the building
to a company that was part of a Group owned by
the Lucchini family. Subsequently, the new owners
had the villa fully restored to its former state
of grace, the restoration work faithfully respecting
the original architectural characteristics of
the building. Over the years, the Lucchini family
gradually transformed the opulent residence into
a sort of private museum housing an impressive
collection of cultural artistic treasures.
Thanks to documentary evidence discovered in
the archives of Modena, we know that the villa
at Saliceto Panaro was one of a number of aristocratic
residences for dignitaries of the Este court,
which were nearly all located in the peaceful,
fresh countryside just outside the city, as if
in some posthumous imitation of the ancient splendour
of the architectural Delights of Ferrara.
This thesis is given further credence by the
statues placed on the front facade of the 18th
century villa attributed to the "great plastic
artist" ANTONIO BEGARELLI. Begarelli lived
between the 15th and 16th centuries and is considered
by critics and experts the greatest sculptor Modena
has ever produced. Even Giorgio Vasari himself,
in his eminent work dedicated to biographies of
the most celebrated Italian artists, reserved
special praise for Begarelli.
It was thus the precious façade of Villa
Maria that inspired the brand name DISPENSA BEGARELLI.
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