Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cumulative Tickets
Ferrara has lots of museums. Luckily, it also sells two kinds of
biglietto
cumulativo
to help ease the burden on your wallet. The
€
8 “Arte Antica”
covers the Palazzo Schifanoia, Museo della Cattedrale, Museo Marfisa, and
Museo Civico Lapadario.
The less useful (only because its museums are generally less interest-
ing to a wide audience)
€
8 “Arte Moderna”
covers the modern-art col-
lections contained together in the Palazzo Massari: Museo d'Arte Moderna
e Contemporanea Filippo de Pisis, Museo Giovanni Boldini, Museo M.
Antonioni, and the Arte Contemporanea pavilion. Purchase either at the
ticket offices of any of the participating museums.
Don't bother with the
€
14 Card Musei (Museums Card),
which merely
gets you reduced admission to the Palazzo dei Diamanti and the Palazzo
Bonacossi.
The
Loggia dei Mercanti (Loggia of the Merchants),
a line of shops flanking
one side of the church, is still the scene of active secular trade, as it has been since
the 18th century, and the surrounding streets and
piazze
are filled with lively cafes.
Ferrara is loaded with elaborate old
palazzi,
many containing one or several
small museums, while others are simply frescoed and elaborately bedecked mon-
uments to the grandeur of centuries past.
Borso d'Este, who made Ferrara one of the Renaissance's leading centers of
art, commissioned the Salone dei Mesi frescoes in the
Palazzo Schifanoia
(Via
Scandiana, 23;
%
0532-244949;
€
5; Tues-Sun 9am-6pm).
It's a fascinating cycle
of the months that's both a Renaissance wall calendar and a rich portrayal of life
and leisure in the 15th-century Este court. Each of the 12 sections shows Ferrara's
aristocrats going about their daily business; looming above them, though, are gods
from classical mythology. The work is a composite of the geniuses of Ferrara's
heyday—Francesco del Cossa painted the March, April, and May scenes; Ercole
de'Roberti and other court painters executed the rest; and Cosmè Tura, the offi-
cial painter of the Este court, oversaw the project. The
palazzo
also houses the
Museo Civico d'Arte Antica,
a small collection of coins, bronzes, and other arti-
facts unearthed from the plains around Ferrara, 14th- and 15th-century ivories,
and some medieval and Renaissance ceramics (including a pair of Andrea della
Robbia saints).
A recent restoration has returned the 16th-century
Palazzina Marfisa d'Este
(Corso Giovecca, 170;
%
0532-244949;
€
3; Tues-Sun 9am-1pm and 3-6pm)
to
its former splendor. Marfisa was an ardent patron of the arts, and period furniture
and ceiling frescoes (most retouched in the early 1900s) bespeak the glory of the
Este dynasty. The little theater in the garden is a reminder that drama, onstage as
well as off, was one of the family's great passions.
You'll have no problem figuring out where the
Palazzo dei Diamanti
(
Palace
of Diamonds;
Corso Ercole I d'Este, 21;
%
0532-205844;
€
4; Tues-Wed and
