The
Palazzo Ducale di Mantova ("Ducal Palace") is a group of buildings in
MantuaMantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
,
LombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, northern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, built between the 14th and the 17th century mainly by the noble family of
GonzagaThe Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.-History:In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through marriage...
as their royal residence in the capital of their
DuchyThe Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, Northern Italy, subject to the Holy Roman Empire.-History:After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Mantua was invaded by Byzantines, Longobards and Franks. In the 11th century it became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Toscana...
. The buildings are connected by corridors and galleries and are enriched by inner courts and wide gardens. The complex includes some 500 rooms and occupies an area of c. 34,000 m². Although most famous for
MantegnaAndrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son in law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g., by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality...
's frescos in the Camera degli Sposi (Wedding Room), they have many other very significant architectural and painted elements.
The Gonzaga family lived in the palace from 1328 to 1707, when the dynasty died out. Subsequently, the buildings saw a sharp decline, which was halted in the 20th century with a continuing process of restoration and the designation of the area as museum.
In 1998, a hidden room was discovered by Palace scholars, led by musicologist Paula Bezzutti. The room is thought to have been used for performances of Monteverdi's music in the late 16th century.
Corte Vecchia
The entrance of the palace is from Piazza Sordello, onto which the most ancient buildings, the
Palazzo del Capitano and the
Magna Domus, open. They formed the original nucleus of the so-called
Corte Vecchia.
The
Palazzo del Capitano ("Captain's Palace") was built in the late 13th century by the Captain of the People Guido Buonacolsi (whose family ruled Mantua from 1271 to 1328). Initially built on two floors and separated from the
Magna Domus (Latin: "Big House") by an alley, in the early 14th century it received a further floor and was united to the
Magna Domus by a large façade with a portico. The additional floor consists of a huge hall (67x15 m), known as "Hall of the Weapon Room" of "Hall of Diet", as it housed the Diet of Mantua in 1459.
The monumental
Scalone delle Duchesse ("Duchesses' Staircase"), built in the 17th century and renovated in 1779 by Paolo Pozzo, leads to the Room of the Morone, named after the 1494 canvas of the Veronese painter
Domenico MoroneDomenico Morone was an Italian painter from Verona, painting in an early Renaissance style.Domenico Morone is known from a few panels, mainly depicting public festivals or tournaments, in which the figures in the crowds are small...
, portraying the
Expulsion of the Bonacolsi in 1328. In the noble floor of the Captain's Palace is the First Room of Guastalla, with a fresco frieze with portraits of the Gonzaga family, which once extended to the successive room, the "Room of
PisanelloPisanello , known professionally as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, also erroneously called Vittore Pisano by Giorgio Vasari, was one of the most distinguished painters of the early Italian Renaissance and Quattrocento...
", from the artist who, from 1433, painted a series of frescoes depicting a
Tournament and other scenes, which were left unfinished. His commissioner, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, is portrayed in the paintings. The frescoes were rediscovered and restored in the 1960s and 1970s.
Apartment of Isabella d'Este
In 1519 Isabella d'Este moved her residence from the Castle of St. George to this older sector of the Gonzaga palace, in the so-called "Widow Apartment". Isabella's apartment included two wings now divided by the entrance to the
Cortile d'Onore ("Honour Court"). The "Grotto Wing" housed the wooden furnitures and the paintings from her famous
studiolo, commissioned from 1496 to 1505 to
MantegnaAndrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son in law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g., by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality...
(
ParnassusThe Parnassus is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris.-History:...
and
Triumph of the VirtuesThe Triumph of the Virtues is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1502. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris....
), Lorenzo Costa the Elder (
Isabella d'Este in the Realm of Harmony and the
Realm of Komos) and Perugino (
Combat of Love and ChastityCombat of Love and Chastity is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, currently housed in the Musée du Louvre, in Paris, France...
), as well as new ones by Correggio (
Allegory of Vice and
Allegory of Virtue). Another hall in the same wing is the
Camera Granda or
Scalcheria, frescoed in 1522 by the Mantuan artist
Lorenzo LeonbrunoLorenzo Leonbruno was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in his native Mantua.By 1511, he is receiving a stipend from the duke Francesco IV Gonzaga. He was a pupil of the painter Lorenzo Costa. In 1521, he briefly traveled to Rome. He also worked as an architect and engineer...
. The apartment included further halls in the so-called "Wing of Santa Croce", from the name of a church of the time of Matilda of Canossa, over whose remains were built rooms such as the
Sala delle Imprese Isabelliane ("Wing of Isabella's Deeds"), the
Sala Imperiale ("Imperial Hall"),
Sala delle Calendule ("Hall of the Calendulae"),
Sala delle Targhe and
Sala delle Imprese. Later Guglielmo X Gonzaga, in the 16th century, transformed the rooms of the
Corte Vecchia creating the Refectory, facing the Hanging Garden, and the
Sala dello Specchio ("Hall of the Mirror"), used for music.
Apartment of the Tapestries
During the Habsburg rule in Mantua, the Refectory was refurbished, with the creation of the
Sala dei Fiumi ("Hall of the Rivers") with paintings on the walls on which the rivers in the Mantuan territory are portrayed as giants. At the same time was created the
Appartamento degli Arazzi ("Apartment of the Tapestries"), comprising four halls. Three of the latter have tapestries, executed in the Flanders on cartoons by
RaphaelRaffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, the same used for those in the
Raphael RoomsThe four Stanze di Raffaello in the Palace of the Vatican form a suite of reception rooms, the public part of the papal apartments. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop...
in the Vatican Palace. They were bought at
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
by Cardinal
Ercole GonzagaErcole Gonzaga was an Italian Cardinal.-Biography:Born in Mantua, he was the son of the Marquess Francesco Gonzaga, and nephew of Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga...
in the early 16th century to decorate what at the time was called the Green Apartment. After decorating the Palatine church of St. Barbara and a period in the Ducal Palace's stores, the Flemish tapestries were restored in 1799 and placed in the current location. A further restoration was carried on during the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in the
Sala dello Zodiaco ("Hall of the Zodiac"), also known as "Napoleon I's Hall", after the French emperor slept there.
Castle of St. George
The Castle of St. George (
Castello di San Giorgio) was built from 1395 and finished in 1406 under commission by
Francesco I Gonzagathumb|Portrait of Francesco I Gonzaga at [[Ambras Castle]], [[Innsbruck]].Francesco I Gonzaga was ruler of Mantua from 1382 to 1407. He was also a condottiero....
, designed by Bartolino da Novara, one of the most renowned military architects of the time. It has as square plan with four corner towers, surrounded by a ditch with three entrances, each one with a
drawbridgeA drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
. In 1459 architect
Luca FancelliLuca Fancelli was an Italian architect and sculptor.-Biography:Fancelli was born in Settignano, a fraction of Florence...
, commissioned by marquis Ludovico III Gonzaga, who assigned several rooms of the
Corte Vecchia for the Council of Mantua called by
Pope Pius IIPope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
, restored the castle, which lost definitely lost its military and defensive function.
Camera degli Sposi
The
Camera Picta (Latin: "Painted Chamber") or
Camera degli Sposi (Italian: "Bridal Chamber") is the most famous room of the palace, known for its frescoes executed by Andrea Mantegna, from 1465 to 1475, as attested by slab celebrating the end of the works. The painter's decoration creates an illusionistic space, as if the chamber was a
loggiaLoggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
with three openings facing country landscapes among arcades and curtains. The painted scenes portrays members of the Gonzaga family.
Domus Nova
The
Domus Nova (Latin: "New House") was built in 1480-1484 by Luca Fancelli. Later, during the reign of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga, the edifice was renovated, creating the current
Appartamento Ducale ("Ducal Apartment"), under the design of Cremonese artist and architect
Antonio Maria VianiAntonio Maria Viani was an Italian painter painter and carver of the Renaissance period. He was born in Cremona. He was a pupil of the Campi. He was court painter to Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga, and adorned the large gallery of the Ducal Palace at Mantua with groups of children. He worked also at Capua...
, who worked for the Gonzaga from 1595.
The
Galleria Nuova is a corridor built in 1778 by
Giuseppe PiermariniGiuseppe Piermarini was an Italian architect who trained with Luigi Vanvitelli at Rome and designed the Teatro alla Scala, Milan , which remains the work by which he is remembered. Indeed, "il Piermarini" serves as an occasional euphemism for the celebrated opera house...
to connect the Guastalla apartment to the Ducal apartment. It houses several altarpieces from the early 16th century to the late 18th century by
Francesco BorganiFrancesco Borgani was an Italian painter of the Baroque, mainly active in Mantua.He was a pupil of Domenico Fetti. He was employed by the court of the Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. He painted a St. Francis intercedes with the Virgin to liberate Mantua from the plague of 1630 for the church of Santa...
,
Carlo BononiCarlo Bononi was an Italian painter.Born and active mainly in Emilia and Ferrara, and considered to be mainly a painter of the School of Ferrara. He studied painting under Giuseppe Mazzuoli, known as il Bastarolo. Knew Guercino and was eulogized by Guido Reni as having a "bounty of a most honest...
, Spagnoletto and others. The gallery ends with the huge
Sala degli Arcieri ("Room of the Archers"), once housing the apartment of Duke Vincenzo. It is famous for an altarpiece by
Peter Paul Rubens (1605), originally part of a triptych for the church of Santissima Trinità in the city, portraying the
Gonzaga Family in Adoration of the Holy Trinity. Other paintings from churches and monasteries now suppressed are also exhibited. The hall is followed by the
Galleria degli Specchi ("Mirrors Gallery"): it was built as an open loggia under Vincenzo I, with a neoclassicist decoration added in 1773-1779. The vault is frescoed by two pupils of
Guido ReniGuido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
.
Duke Ferdinand commissioned Viani a reproduction in scale of the Scala Santa of St. John Lateran in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, under his apartment in the
Domus Nova. Until 1979 this sector was known as "Apartment of the Dwarves", allegedly built to house dwarves of the Mantuan court, until Italian art historian Renato Berzaghi proved that it was just a reproduction of the Roman original.
Corte Nuova
The main feature of the
Corte Nuova ("New Court") is the
Sala di Manto, once the entrance to the "Apartment of Troy", which takes its name from the frescoes (1538-1539) by collaborators of
Giulio RomanoGiulio Romano was an Italian painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th-century style known as Mannerism...
, commissioned by Federico II Gonzaga to restore several rooms in the Palace. The current appearance of the
Sala del Manto dates to the intervention of Guglielmo X, who ordered the creation of the
Appartamento Grande di Castello ("Large Apartment of the Castle"). The frescoes in the hall depict the story of
TroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
, preceded by the arrival in Italy of
MantoThere are several distinct figures in Greek mythology named Manto, the most prominent being the daughter of Tiresias. The name Manto derives from Ancient Greek Mantis, "seer, prophet" .-Daughter of Tiresias:...
, a legendary daughter of
TiresiasIn Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo; Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus...
.
Palatine church of Santa Barbara
The church of
Santa Barbara, which had the role of Palace chapel ("Basilica Palatina") for the Gonzagas, was built in 1562-1572 by
Giovanni Battista BertaniGiovanni Battista Bertani was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. He trained with Giulio Romano in Mantua. His brother Domenico Bertani also painted in Mantua. He was active in 1568.-References:...
, commissioned by Duke Guglielmo. It was designed to house sumptuous religious celebrations, accompanied by holy music, and thus provided with a precious organ by the Antegnati.
The church has a central plan, with a square tiburium in the middle, followed by a raised semicircular
presbyteryThe presbytery is the name for an area in a church building which is reserved for the clergy.In the oldest church it is separated by short walls, by small columns and pilasters in the Renaissance ones; it can also be raised, being reachable by a few steps, usually with railings....
covered by another tiburium, similar to the other one, and ending into a scenographic apse decorated with
cofferA coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
s. Under the presbytery is the crypt with an oval memorial. The bell tower has a square plan, and is topped by a small temple. The interior houses two canvasses by
Lorenzo Costa the YoungerLorenzo Costa the Younger, who was born in 1537, was the son of Girolamo Costa, and was instructed in the art of painting by his uncle Ippolito. He worked in concert with Taddeo Zuccaro in the Belvedere at Rome, about 1560, and died in 1583.-References:...
,
The Baptist of Constantine and the
Martyrdom of St. Hadrian. Recently the remains of four dukes and other members of the Gonzaga family, including those of Guglielmo, were discovered in the church.
Gardens and courtyards
- Cortile della Cavallerizza, designed by Giovanni Battista Bertani, who in 1556 adapted the style of the buildings surrounding this courtyard to the Mannerist style of Giulio Romano characterizing the pre-existing palace, called "La Rustica", which also faced it. It was the place where the Gonzaga's horse were showed before being sold.
- Giardino dei Semplici ("Garden of the Simple"), also known as Giardino del Padiglione, built in 1603 by Zenobio Bocchi. It housed the flowers and the essences used by the members of the Gonzaga court to perfume their clothes.
- Hanging Garden, in the Refectory (late-16th century), located at 12 m of elevation. During the 18th century, during the Austrian rule, it received a Coffee House.
- Secret Garden, part of the apartment of Isabella d'Este in the Corte Vecchia, built 1522 by the Mantuan architect Gian Battista Covo.
- Cortile delle Otto Facce ("Courtyard of the Eight Faces"), also known as Cortile degli Orsi ("Courtyard of the Bears").
- Cortile del Frambus
- Cortile d'Onore or Ducal Garden
- Cortile di Santa Croce
- Cortile dei Cani
External links