Mantua was once surrounded by four lakes formed by the river Mincio. Not far from the island on which the city was built was another island, in Medieval times called Teieto (then abbreviated to Te). This was connected to the south walls of the city by a bridge. There are two [...]
Giulio di Piero Pippi de’Iannuzzi, called Romano, was born in Rome during the last decade of the fifteenth century. Although his precise date of birth is uncertain, a death certificate of 1546 puts his age at 47, meaning he was born in around 1499. Vasari dates his birth to 1492, while experts tend to [...]
Apartment of the Secret Garden The apartment, overlooking a secret garden from which it takes its name, was created by Federico II as an intimate and secluded place. The elongated octagonal vestibule connects the chamber of Attilius Regulus to the loggia and the garden. The pavilion vault of the vestibule, decorated with [...]
The name derives from the winged Victories portrayed in the corners of the room together with two symbols of Fame bearing long trumpets. The frieze comprises elegant painted grotesques on a background of imitation semi-precious stones, as described in a contemporary document. Oval partitions contain stucco crosses with clipeate busts, also in [...]
This spacious room owes its name to the original plan by Giulio Romano. It was to mirror the loggia of the Muses that stands to the north, on the other side of the courtyard. However, at the end of the sixteenth century it was still unfinished and its current appearance is due [...]
This room has undergone the most radical changes in the palazzo. Its decoration is a combination of original and neo-classical work, and sixteenth century stuccoes from the Ducal Palace. Part of the original decoration are the stuccoes in roundels at the top of the frieze, probably by Nicolò da Milano. [...]
Decorated by Staffieri in 1813, the walls and ceiling of the chamber give the room a neo-classical air. Contemporary to the building of the palazzo, instead, is the frieze with stucco candelabra. From a drawing by Giulio Romano, it gives the room its name. Standing out in the corners are triumphs of weapons [...]
Small Cross Vault Chamber This small room separates the monumental wing of the palazzo from the private, less richly decorated rooms.The cross vault, from which the room takes its name, was decorated between 1533 and 1534. The moulded stuccoes were executed by Biagio de Conti and Benedetto di Bertoldo, while the hand-finished [...]
The room, finished between 1532 and 1535, tells the story of the Fall of the Giants, taken from The Metamorphoses by the Latin poet Ovid. The room is the most popular and spectacular of the Villa, both for the dynamic and expressive power of the huge and tumultuous images, both for the [...]
The room, whose decorations may be dated back to the years 1530-1531, is so called because of the images of rulers and commanders painted on the ceiling, extolled as virtuous examples taken from ancient history. The fresco in the hexagon in the center of the vault is devoted to an episode, narrated [...]