The Ducal Palace
The Ducal Palace, the oldest of the buildings constructed by Vespasian, was built between the...
The Ducal Palace is the oldest of the buildings constructed by Vespasiano. It was built between 1560 and 1561, after a fierce fire had destroyed the previous building in November 1559. The palace has four levels: basement, ground floor, piano nobile and mezzanine. It was originally connected to other buildings on either side by a covered walkway.
The lower part of the elegant facade has an ashlar portico on a raised level, with five arches. The facade is topped by an impressive bracketed cornice. The mezzanine rises above the palace's roof; here Vespasiano died in 1591.
The corners of the facade were decorated with cartouches and coats of arms, still visible today. The lower level is separated from the upper by a smooth stringcourse supporting five windows. Sadly, the facade has lost some of its original characteristics, such as the carved oak cornice and the Bernardino Campi frescoes that decorated them, including a Madonna above the window of the library and two angels holding the duke's coat of arms.
The large windows, aligned with the arches of the loggia, are bordered in marble and topped with alternating curved and triangular gables. The architrave bears the inscription VESP. D. G. DVX SABLON. I. (Vespasiano first Duke of Sabbioneta by the grace of God).
In the 16th century, the corbels above the windows contained marble busts of Roman emperors, today replaced by resin busts of some of the Gonzagas; the originals are preserved inside the building, in the Hall of Eagles.
The rear of the building once featured a Hall of Horses, which was destroyed in a fire in the early 19th century.
In the square to the right of the staircase stood a bronze statue of the duke by the Arezzo-born sculptor Leone Leoni; it was later moved to the church of the Incoronata, chosen as the mausoleum of Vespasiano.
The upper section of the facade was painted in 1584 by Bernardino Campi and Michelangelo Veronese.
Fun fact: on 6th December, Vespasiano's birthday, the sun shines through the large central window of the facade.
Inventories and chronicles from the sixteenth century describe the walls of the palace clad with precious woods (cedar and olive), covered with tapestries and tooled leather, with paintings and bas-relief busts from the duke's collection. placed.
On the ground floor:
Hall of the Habsburgs
Hall of the Great Guard
Atrium
Chamber of Thunderbolts
Room of the Four Seasons
Hall of Diana
Vestibule to the Hall of Gold
Hall of Gold
On the upper floor:
Hall of Eagles
Hall of Emperors
Gallery of the Ancestors
Hall of Elephants
Hall of Lions
Hall of Cities
Hall of the Angel
Hall of the Octagons
Hall of Grapes
Hall of the Habsburgs
Of the wall decorations only a few traces of painted garlands and flowers, fruit and fish remain, which perhaps framed paintings of a heraldic or symbolic nature.
One wall displays roundels with portraits of two emperors, Maximilian II and Rudolf II of Habsburg, who respectively elevated Vespasiano Gonzaga first to the status of a marquess (1565) and later to Duke of Sabbioneta.
Hall of the Great Guard
The access point for visitors, this room currently contains a plaster copy of the bronze statue by Leone Leoni.
The wooden ceiling, divided into seventeen coffers, retains faint traces of colour; at the centre is the coat of arms of the Aragon family, which Vespasiano joined when he married Anna, daughter of the dukes of Segorbe.
This was originally placed opposite the wooden coat of arms of the Gonzaga family.
During recent restoration work, several inscriptions were discovered on the walls, indicating that the palace was not always used for its original purpose, and may have been a prison.
Atrium
The only evidence of the original decoration of this room is the marble cornices of the two architrave doors, and two coats of arms set into the walls. The one near the staircase is divided vertically in three sections and displays the emblems of the Aragons, the Colonnas and the Gonzagas, while the other bears the coat of arms of the Aragon family.
In the 1970s an unwise restoration affected the entire building, which suffered the complete demolition of the monumental spiral staircase built at the behest of Vespasiano, and its replacement with the present staircase to the upper level.
Chamber of the Thunderbolts
The barrel vault ceiling is divided into three spans, with six lunettes framed by intertwined plants and flowers. The central section once contained a fresco which is no longer visible, while in the panels on either side, gilded stucco bas-reliefs can be seen depicting the winged thunderbolts of Jupiter, a motif dear to Vespasiano and adapted from his grandfather Gianfrancesco, Count of Rodigo, and the motto FERIUNT SUMMOS FULMINA MONTES (lightning strikes even the highest mountain).
The fluted basins contained marble busts.
In the sixteenth century the small room contained a fireplace, above which was an ancient marble tondo with a portrait of Augustus.
Room of the Four Seasons
The roof is a cloister vault; four caryatids in the corners, painted to mimic statues, support the central panel, whose original fresco has disappeared.
Four roundels contain figures and landscapes, topped by bunches of flowers and ears of wheat, grapes and citrus fruits, symbolising the perpetual turning of the seasons. The scenes depict typical occupations in each season.
Hall of Diana
The name of this room comes from a much-deteriorated fresco in the centre of the ceiling, depicting the myth of Diana and Endymion and attributed to the Cremonese artist Bernardino Campi, who established a painting school in Sabbioneta.
The entire room conveys the world of mythology, depicted in the most accomplished compositions by artists of the age.
In the corners of the panel four pairs of putti hold drapery; they are shown playing with a fawn, a hare and a deer. The paintings were added in the 18th century, probably to cover damage caused by repairs to the ceiling. The other panels are decorated with grotesques dating back to 1578-1590, with chimeric animals, scenes of heraldry and figures from allegory and myth.
Eight other panels depict scenes of wild boar and deer hunts, falconry and the myth of Diana and Actaeon.
Four lunettes contain decorative motifs of mythological figures and landscapes as backdrops for images of various Olympian divinities.
Stucco statues of Mars and Venus are displayed in niches.
Vestibule to the Hall of Gold
The magnificent wooden ceiling rests on an ornate Doric-style cornice whose brackets, carved with plants and mascarons, are interspersed with metopes of ox skulls, paterae (handleless bowls used for libations to the gods) and amphoras.
The ceiling is decorated with large garlands suspended from lions' heads and is divided into three sections: the central panel features Vespasiano's coloured coat of arms - the eagle with the motto LIBERTAS, topped by the cap encircled by a crown and surrounded by the collar of the Chivalrous Order of the Golden Fleece - while the side panels depict the winged thunderbolts of Jupiter, the duke's emblem, sculpted against a blue background.
The entire ceiling and the heraldic elements are coated with a layer of pure gold.
Hall of Gold
Like the vestibule, the wooden ceiling is entirely gold-covered, and is divided in four by six quadrangular panels decorated with wreaths of leaves surrounded by hanging pine cones.
The cornice is Doric in style.
The monumental fireplace in Verona red marble features elegant protomes (side supports with the heads and feet of lions) and is topped by an alcove which once contained the marble bust of a friend of Vespasiano's, the military captain Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, sculpted by Leone Leoni.
Hall of Eagles
The wooden ceiling consists of arabesque beams and is divided into black and white squares with golden rosettes.
The trabeation features a frieze with garlands of plants held by winged caryatids and flying eagles, whose talons clutch Jupiter's winged thunderbolts, each attached to a shield once painted with the Gonzaga coat of arms; during the Napoleonic occupation these were removed and capital letters painted on the shields, spelling VIVA LA REPUBBLICA and referring to the Cisalpine Republic.
The walls originally held hunting trophies.
In this room we can admire the magnificent equestrian statues depicting Vespasiano and his ancestors armed for combat. The ten original wooden statues, known as the Cavalcata (parade), were sculpted in 1587 by a Venetian artist to commemorate the military victories of the Gonzagas, who were expert soldiers and renowned leaders. The Cavalcata was also an opportunity to celebrate the splendour of the famous horses of the Gonzaga family, the "household breed" sought after by all powerful people of the age.
The statues were once housed in the Hall of Horses, a huge room at the back of the palace which - as we mentioned - was destroyed by a terrible fire in the early nineteenth century.
Several statues were completely burnt, and others seriously damaged. The surviving statues portray:
- Vespasiano Gonzaga, 1st Duke of Sabbioneta, wearing the collar of the Golden Fleece
- Vespasiano's father Luigi Rodomonte Gonzaga, Duke of Traietto, bearing on his chest the crossed keys and umbraculum, symbols of the Gonfalonier of the Holy Roman Church (usually in the Papal armies)
- Ludovico I Gonzaga, 3rd captain of Mantua
- Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, 1st Count of Rodigo
Busts that survived the fire depict:
- Luigi Gonzaga, 1st captain and forefather of the ruling dynasty
- Guido, 2nd captain of Mantua
- Francesco I, 4th captain of Mantua
- Ludovico II, Marquess of Mantua
- Ludovico, 2nd Count of Rodigo
Hall of Emperors
The name refers to the portraits of twelve Roman emperors which originally adorned the frieze. Since 2015, this magnificent room has been embellished by twelve canvases depicting the Caesars, copies of the originals by Bernardino Campi, which are currently preserved in the National Museum of Naples.
The beautiful ceiling was carved in 1561 and is divided into nine sections. The four octagonal panels in the corners contain wooden coats of arms and emblems:
- the quartered coat of arms of the Gonzaga-Colonna families, beside the letters VG (Vespasiano Gonzaga);
- the coat of arms of the Spanish Aragon family, the line of the prince's second wife, with the letters AA (Anna d’Aragona);
- the winged arrows or thunderbolts of Jupiter.
In the centre of the ceiling is a tondo with a coat of arms held by two winged spirits (or angels), displaying the insignias of Aragon and Gonzaga.
Above the brackets there were eight marble busts of Roman emperors.
The walls were once clad in tooled leather.
The room also features an austere pietra di paragona fireplace.
Gallery of the Ancestors
In his study, which contained his private library, Vespasiano arranged the bas-relief stucco portraits of his ancestors. The sequence of well-known figures begins on the wall to the right of the window, with the Gonzagas who ruled Mantua:
- Luigi Corradi da Gonzaga, with Richilda Ramberti, the first of his three wives
- Guido with the first of his three wives, Virida Beccaria
- Ludovico I with Alda d’Este
- Francesco I with his second wife Margherita Malatesta
- Gianfrancesco with Paola Malatesta
- Ludovico II with Barbara Hohenzollern
Over the window an inscription in gold capitals reads:
“VESP. GONZ. COL. GENTILIBVS SVIS” (Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna and his forefathers).
The ceiling is decorated with grotesques; an elaborate stucco rib divides it into several sections. The central panel shows Apollo in his sun chariot, while the two ovals at the ends depict Mars and Mercury, interspersed with crossed ribbons and carved emperors' heads.
Important episodes in Roman history are represented in stucco bas-reliefs, respectively:
- Marco Curzio throwing himself into a chasm in the Forum of Rome;
- Mucius Scaevola burning his hand in front of King Porsena;
- Horatius Cocles blocking the enemy advance;
- Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the farmer general.
Six exquisite Flemish landscapes decorate the lower part of the ceiling.
Hall of Elephants
This room may originally have been used for civil and criminal debates. It features a large frieze, the only remaining part of the original decoration, which depicts a curious procession of elephants between columns and caryatids. The neck of each elephant is encircled by a chain, held by a human arm, symbolising reason holding the forces of nature in check.
The short sides show the allegory Justice, seated with her sword and scale, and Concord, with two armoured man shaking hands.
The painted beams over the window bear a motto taken from Virgil's Aeneid, VI SVPERVM (by the power of the gods).
On the walls once hung portraits of three Venetian Doges, the emperor Charles V and Isabella Gonzaga Carafa, daughter and heir of Vespasiano.
Hall of Lions
The original walnut ceiling with Doric cornice features a central panel with two lions rampant, holding Vespasiano's coat of arms topped by the ducal cap.
This is the first of a series of carved wooden ceilings made by local craftsmen in the Mannerist style, closely related to the rich Iberian gold-working art so beloved by Vespasiano.
Around the central panel are sixteen others of different shapes, separated by beams linked by rosettes.
The metopes contain sculpted ox skulls, mascarons and putti.
Hall of Cities
The frescoes on the walls feature what remains of the Gallery of Cities, completed in 1573-74, which also included the next rooms of the Angel and the Octagons, before the wooden ceilings were installed. This was a gallery in which Vespasiano temporarily arranged his archaeological collection, awaiting the construction of the Grand Corridor adjacent to Palazzo Giardino.
In the 1580s the Gallery of the Cities was partitioned to create new rooms with elaborate ceilings of Lebanese cedar.
The views of the ten cities originally appearing as frescoes were described in Cosmographia Universalis by Sebastian Munster, published in Basel in 1550.
Hall of the Angel
The carved wooden ceiling is among the most ornate in the palace, and dates back to 1585-1591. Lebanese cedar is hard to work, but destined to remain intact over time, partly due to its particular aroma, which deters woodworm.
The central section features a carved angel on a starry background, holding Vespasiano's coat of arms, encircled by the collar of the Golden Fleece and topped by the ducal cap.
Hall of Octagons
The name refers to the octagon-shaped panels that make up the beautiful wooden ceiling.
The visual impact is enhanced by the lovely acanthus fruit that hang towards the curious observer.
This room housed the duke's Great Library, an extraordinary collection of manuscripts and printed books on military architecture, geometry and mathematics.
After Vespasiano's death the library was moved, in accordance with his will, to a room in the Servite convent of Maria, where it remained until the unfortunate Napoleonic suppression of the monasteries. Today the library is no more.
Hall of Grapes
Again in Lebanese cedar, the carved wooden ceiling is divided into twenty-four square coffers and richly decorated with rosettes and clusters of grapes.