Palazzo della Moda (Brunner)

Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Palazzo della Moda (Brunner)

Name of Publisher/Creator Identity
Brunner & C. Como

Date of Publication/Creation Date
1911 ca.

Inscription Language
Italian (Language)

Descriptive Note Text

This is a black-and-white photo postcard that shows the "Palazzo della Moda” or Fashion Pavilion. The three-quarter view from street level emphasizes its corner and long flank. It is a highly ornate, temporary exhibition building in a neo-Baroque style. Two prominent domes with fish-scale roofing, cartouches and tall finials crown the main block, and a third, smaller dome rises over the far wing. Triangular pediments filled with shell and palm-frond motifs mark the bays. The walls are richly worked with rusticated pilasters, garlands, oval oeil-de-boeuf windows, balustraded rooflines topped with urns, and tall arched windows with multi-pane glazing. A glazed skylight roof is visible over one of the rear wings.

The main entrance sits under a large striped canvas awning with a scalloped, patterned fringe. Above it, a decorative framed sign reads “PALAZZO della MODA” in stylized lettering. 

In the foreground, a cast-iron electric street lamp with ornamental scrollwork stands at the curb, and a simple post-and-rope fence encloses beds of palms and low plantings along the building’s base. A fashionably dressed couple walks along the sidewalk: the woman wears a long white dress and carries a parasol, and the man beside her is in dark clothing and a hat. 

Current Repository/Geographic Location
Cristina Della Coletta Private Collection (San Diego, USA)

Current Repository Numbers
CDC-PC-PFAS-0016