Have you ever been surprised by the landscape in the province of Vicenza? This itinerary, promoted by the Musei AltoVicentino network, proposed an original itinerary telling the story of the development of industrial manufacturing on one hand, and the influence of the “Serenissima” Republic of Venice on the other.

600 years of history are told through 8 clues, 8 stops that can each become a journey to explore an unexpected cultural heritage.

The narrative itinerary involves 9 museums between Malo, Marostica, Nova, Santorso, San Vito di Leguzzano, Schio, Valbrenta and Valdagno.

Nicolò Tron, a Venetian nobleman in Schio

Our city is the protagonist of the first stop in this journey.
In the 1700s a Venetian entrepreneur decided to open his factory here.
His name was Nicolò Tron, he was a nobleman, the great nephew of the Doge by the same name. In his youth he had been an Ambassador for the Venetian Republic at the English court. He settled here after woolworkers were given permission to produce “panni alti”, expensive and refined textiles, in addition to the modest “panni bassi”.
With Tron the history of industrialisation in the Vicenza province begins. These territories were rich in water, raw material, ingenuity and entrepreneurs.
His factory was located in the area which today is occupied by the workers’ awning in Giardino Jacquard – one of the stops in this itinerary – and it constitutes the first example of modern factory as well as being the starting point for the changes coming in the following century.

Another important stop tells the story of the special relationship between the French painter Louis Dorigny, the Tron family and our own Civic Museum Palazzo Fogazzaro.

The Museum exhibits two paintings by French artist Louis Dorigny. Dorigny was already active in the territories of Venice in the late 1600s: he lived in Verona and worked for Venetian nobility. In 1700 the nobleman Andrea Tron commissioned him to decorate his Ballroom at Ca’ Tron at San Stea (Venice). The ceiling was thus decorated with the triumph of Hercules at the end of the twelve labours, while the 10 decorations found above doors and balconies were oval paintings depicting virtues.

The works exhibited in the museum today were part of the latter: the Allegory of Eloquence, the Allegory of Modesty and the Allegory of Fidelity.
The decorations were probably an homage to Tron’s eldest son Nicolò, then fifteen, who was about to leave home for the boarding school Collegio dei Nobili in Parma, where, much like Hercules, he would acquire the virtues necessary to govern himself and the world.

If you’re interested in finding out more on this itinerary, you can do so here: