House of Street Broletto 54

A group of houses at numbers 50 and 54 of the present-day Via Broletto, which were once part of the same building: the Merchants Guild and the Ufficio della Stadera, Stadera is the Italian for "lever scales", where one plate was balanced against a weight. This was therefore the Weigh House. These houses line the entrance to Via Leon d'Oro (number 52) and are illustrated by some interesting capitals. Following restorations, a 16th century frieze - displaying putti and a figure which has unfortunately now almost perished completely, supposedly Federico Gonzaga on horseback - can now be admired and deciphered on the façade of the house on the right, number 54. The fact that the frescoes were taken down quite recently and then restored, probably incorrectly, makes understanding them even more difficult. A few scholars attribute the paintings to Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio De Sacchis, known as Pordenone, 1484-1539), a leading mannerist master.