Like a Virgil, seen for the very first time

 

No other writer has had the reputation of Virgil. The celebrated author of the Aeneid, the Eclogues and the Georgics has been chosen by Dante as a guide in his Divine Comedy. Equally Virgil had a great influence on Petrarch and Boccaccio, Ariosto and Thomas Eliot, just mentioning few of the dozens of poets and writers who has been fascinated by the Mantuan classical poet. During the middle ages he was thought to be a sort of prophet, magician, tutelary deity.

An exhibition in Palazzo Te investigates the fame and the phisical features of the latin poet.
A famous mosaic found in the 1896, in which Virgil is portrayed between two Muses, will show you the most ancient surviving portrait of the Poet. For the very first time this mosaic - lent by the Bardo Museum in Tunis - is exhibited out of Tunisia.

Starting from a testimony so ancient and unattainable, the exhibition is going to follow the portraiture of Virgil amongst the different centuries: illuminated manuscripts, coins from the middleages, XVI century woodcuts.  A special section is dedicated to the monument dedicated to the memory of Virgil by the council of Mantua in 1927. On show sketches by Giuseppe Menozzi, complemented by other projects designed by other famous artists of the early twentieth century, including Duilio Cambellotti.

VIRGILIO - Volti e immagini del poeta
Mantova, Palazzo Te, 16th October 2011 – 8th January 2012

 

Nessun altro scrittore ha goduto della fama di Virgilio. Il celebre autore di  Eneide, Bucoliche e Georgiche è stato scelto da Dante come guida nella sua Divina Commedia. Allo stesso tempo Virgilio ha esercitato una grande influenza su Petrarca e Boccaccio, Ariosto e Thomas Eliot, solo per citare alcuni fra i poeti e gli scrittori che sono rimasti affascinati dal poeta mantovano. Durante il Medio Evo, Virgilio è stato anche visto come una sorta di profeta, mago e nume tutelare.

Una mostra a Palazzo Te indaga la fama e le caratteristiche fisiche del poeta latino.
Un famoso mosaico rinvenuto nel 1896, in cui Virgilio è raffigurato tra due Muse, vi mostrerà il ritratto più antico sopravvissuto del Poeta. Per la prima volta questo mosaico - concesso in prestito dal Museo del Bardo di Tunisi - sarà esposto al difuori della Tunisia.

A partire da una testimonianza così antica, la mostra seguirà la raffigurazione di Virgilio attraverso i diversi secoli: codici miniati, monete dal medio evo,  xilografie cinquecentesche. Una speciale sezione speciale sarà dedicata al monumento dedicato alla memoria di Virgilio dal Comune di Mantova nel 1927. I bozzetti originali di Giuseppe Menozzi saranno integrati da altri progetti disegnati da famosi artisti del primo Novecento, tra cui Duilio Cambellotti.

VIRGILIO - Volti e Immagini del poeta
Mantova, Palazzo Te, 16 ottobre 2011 - 8 Gennaio 2012

 

Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga living separate lives - Dreaming of an exhibition

The Museum "Palazzo San Sebastiano" in Mantua (Italy) owns a stunning terracotta bust of Francesco II Gonzaga, by Gian Cristoforo Romano. This is one of the most important pieces of art in the collection of the Museum. Really a worth seeing masterpiece of the Renaissance Sculpture.
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth (Texas, U.S.A.) owns an equally stunning terracotta bust of a woman, thought to be Isabella d'Este, Francesco's wife. Althought the two sculptures are by the same artist and they portray two people strongly connected (husband and wife), they have never been put on display togheter. We do hope that one day - trustingly soon - Francesco and Isabella's portrait busts can finally meet in an exhibition, and stop living separate lives. Also if just for a while.

Il Museo di Palazzo San Sebastiano a Mantova possiede uno straordinario busto in terracotta di Francesco II Gonzaga, opera di Gian Cristoforo Romano. Si tratta di uno dei più importanti pezzi d'arte della collezione del Museo. Un capolavoro della scultura rinascimentale da vedere assolutamente.
Il Kimbell Art Museum di Fort Worth (Texas, USA), possiede un  altrettanto sensazionale busto in terracotta, che si ritiene rappresenti Isabella d'Este, moglie di Francesco.  

Sebbene le due sculture siano dello stesso artista e ritraggano due persone fortemente connesse (marito e moglie), esse non sono mai state esposte insieme. 

Speriamo che un giorno - auspicabilmente non troppo lontano - i busti di Francesco e Isabella possano finalmente incontrarsi in una mostra, e smettere di vivere vite separate. Anche se solo per un po'.

Let us introduce you to... the real Mantuan stallions!

The largest room of the Palazzo Te - the only whom ancient sources define "hall" instead of "chamber" - celebrates in its decoration the horses once belonging to Federico II Gonzaga, lord of Mantua and owner of the building.

The presence of these animals is very significant: according to Giorgio Vasari, Giulio Romano built the Palazzo in "a place with some stables, called the Te, standing in the middle of a meadow, in which he [Federico] kept his stud of horses and mares".
Vasari informs us also that the construction work has been carried out "without destroying the old walls".
Recent surveys have shown how actually the entire north wing of the Te, where the Hall of the Horses is, is the result of the reworking of an existing structure. So the frescoes designed by Giulio Romano celebrate the previous 'inhabitants' of this space.
Painted on the walls of the room six magnificent thoroughbred horses, large almost natural, are proudly displayed. Some of them with well known names: Morel Favorito (i.e. "Black Favorite") and Dario ("Darius") are in fact still accompanied by inscriptions recalling the identity. For two other horses - Glorioso and Battaglia (i.e. "Glorious" and "Battle") - the names are preserved in sixteenth-century engravings, which show the ancient features of the room. The names of the remaining two horses are still unknown.

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L’ambiente più ampio di Palazzo Te, l’unico definito nelle fonti ‘sala’ e non ‘camera’, celebra nel suo apparato decorativo i cavalli appartenuti a Federico II Gonzaga, Signore di Mantova e committente del Palazzo. La presenza di questi animali è assai significativa: a detta di Giorgio Vasari, Giulio Romano avrebbe infatti realizzato Palazzo Te in un “luogo e certe stalle […] dove [Federico] teneva la razza de’ suoi cavalli e cavalle”. Il Vasari ci informa anche di come tale opera di costruzione sarebbe stata eseguita “senza guastare la muraglia vecchia”. Recenti indagini hanno comprovato come effettivamente l’intera ala nord del Te, ove si trova la sala in questione, sia frutto del rimaneggiamento di una struttura preesistente. Gli affreschi progettati da Giulio Romano in questo ambiente celebrano quindi in immagine, i precedenti ‘padroni di casa’.
Sulle pareti affrescate della sala sei magnifici destrieri, grandi quasi al naturale, fanno bella mostra di sé. Di alcuni si conoscono anche i nomi: Morel Favorito e Dario sono infatti ancora accompagnati dalla scritta che ne ricorda l’identità. Per altri due cavalli – Glorioso e Battaglia – i nomi sono invece conservati in testimonianze grafiche cinquecentesche che riproducono l’aspetto della sala. Gli appellativi dei restanti due destrieri restano ancora ignoti.

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Discover the place where the Opera was born

During the XVI century, Ferrante Gonzaga – the youngest of the six Isabella d’Este’s children – had a palace built in the center of Mantua. When his son Cesare inherited the building, he decided to create a theatre within it. He also setted there the meeting point for a group of his intellectual friends, known as  the “Accademia degli Invaghiti” (“Academy of the Enamored ones”). Since the Academicians used to have this theatre as their conference room to discuss about art, literature, and - mostly - music, the place soon became a center of the renaissance culture. So important that the very first melodrama of history was played there: “The History of Orpheus” composed by Claudio Monteverdi - considered the first Opera -  was staged at the Accademia on the Carnival of the 1607.
Unfortunatly the original theatre doesn't exist anymore. In fact, in the second half of the XVIII century it was so crumbling, that the Academy had to rebuild it.
The Academy - then renamed "Academy of Science, Literature and Arts" by the empress Maria Theresa from Austria - commissioned the Architect Antonio Galli Bibiena to reconstruct the theatre, exactly in the same place. The building of the new theatre - called "Bibiena" by the name of his constructor - begun 1766, and on the 3rd December 1769 it was inaugurated.
Few weeks after the inauguration, on the 16th  January 1770, Mozart, who was only 13 years old, came to Mantua from Salzburg to play a concert. On that occasion, the young Mozart said that the "Bibiena Theatre" was the most beautiful theatre in the world.
 

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Sensual art in Palazzo Te

The inscription running around the walls of the chamber of Cupid and Psyche (or Eros and Psyche) in Palazzo Te says that Federico Gonzaga, lord of Mantua, “ordered its construction for his honest leisure after hard work to regain his strength in peace”.

What kind of “honest leisure”? Well, this detail of the frescos painted by Giulio Romano can answer the question.
Among the amorous-themed paintings in the room, this one has been treated with an extraordinary boldness, reflecting the flaming passion for sexual pleasure, which marked the behaviors of Federico Gonzaga.
The scene shows the king of gods Jupiter entering – disguised as a snake – into the bed of Olympias, queen of Macedonia. According the legend, in consequence of this intercourse the Queen gave birth to Alexander the Great.
The scene is forthrightly pornographic. But the fresco is also referring to a biographical aspect of Federico's life: the lord of Mantua had a child from his mistress, Isabella Boschetti, who used to live in this Palace. And this son was named Alexander.
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L'iscrizione che corre sulle pareti della camera di Amore e Psiche a Palazzo Te dichara che Federico Gonzaga, signore di Mantova, "ne ordinò la costruzione per l'onesto ozio, al fine di ritemprare la forze nella quiete dopo le fatiche".
Che tipo di "onesto ozio"? Beh, questo dettaglio degli affreschi dipinti da Giulio Romano può rispondere alla domanda.
Tra i dipinti a tema amoroso della stanza, questo è stato trattato con un’incredibile audacia, che riflette la passione ardente per i piaceri della carne, che tanto ha segnato i comportamenti di Federico Gonzaga.
La scena mostra Giove, il re degli dei, mentre – mutatosi in serpente – entra nel letto di Olimpia, regina di Macedonia. Secondo la leggenda, in conseguenza di questo rapporto, la regina diede alla luce Alessandro Magno.
La scena è senza mezzi termini pornografica. Ma l'affresco è anche riferimento ad un aspetto biografico della vita di Federico: il signore di Mantova ebbe infatti un figlio dalla sua amante, Isabella Boschetti, che viveva in questo palazzo. E a questo figlio fu dato il nome Alessandro.
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Isabella d'Este's private rooms in the Ducal Palace

After reading Karen Essex's novel "Leonardo's Swans", you will love the Isabella d'Este's private rooms where the Marchioness's spirit is still living within these spaces.
Yes it's true! Although now they are quite empty: the most of Isabella's art collection having been dispersed amongst the most important museums in the world. And today only a few pieces still remain in Mantua. But the fine frescos, the precious wooden inlays, the gilded ceilings and Isabella's secret garden still tell us a lot about the woman, who  –  even during her lifetime – was named "The First Lady" of the Renaissance.
When planning to pay a visit to Isabella's rooms, please be aware that they are not included in the usual visitor's route within the Ducal Palace of Mantua. Visitors wishing to see them may have to ask for special permission to see them. We will be only too happy to help you in getting this permission. 

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