Villa Foscari known as “La Malcontenta” (“The Malcontent”) is Palladio's only villa along the Brenta Riviera. Marked as a UNESCO "World Heritage Site" in 1955, it is still without electric lighting, by choice of the owners.
The construction of Villa Foscari was commissioned by Alvise and Nicolò Foscari to Andrea Palladio. Completed in 1555, it earned the nickname “Malcontenta” in later times because of a noblewoman Elisabetta Dolfin, of the Foscari family, who was relegated here to atone for her infidelity. According to other traditions, however, the nickname comes from the frequent overflowing of the river and consequent flooding of the lands of the peasants who used to repeat "Brenta mal contenta.
The Villa rises majestically as a single block, enriched by classical references from the 4th and 5th centuries BC, on three floors, distinguishing between functional activities (on the ground floor), "noble" activities (on the second floor) and storage of agricultural commodities (on the upper floor).
The hall frescoes were painted with mythological stories by Gian Battista Zelotti. The side rooms were also frescoed: Battista Franco, known as Semolei (ca. 1510-1561), esteemed by Palladio and for whom he had already worked, began to paint the Fall of the Giants but died before finishing the work.
The work was completed by Zelotti, who also frescoed the room dedicated to Bacchus. Other rooms were dedicated to the myth of Aurora and Prometheus, while the two to the south, dedicated to Fame and Time, were the only ones to preserve frescoes.
