Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Other palace highlights are Domenico Morone's
Expulsion of the Bonacolsi
(1494), in
Room 1, depicting the Gonzaga
coup d'etat
of 1328; and Rubens' vast
Adoration of the
Magi
in the
Sala degli Arcieri
(Room of Archers), which Napoleonic troops brutally dis-
membered in 1797. In the
Sala del Pisanello
fascinating preliminary sketches of Pisanello's
frescoes of Arthurian knights remain, while the cream-and-gold
Galleria degli Specchi
(Gallery of Mirrors) is actually a complete 17th-century Austrian reworking - under the
Gonzaga the gallery housed prized paintings, including Caravaggio's radical
Death of the
Virgin
(now in the Louvre).
Last, but not least, Rooms 34 to 36, the
Stanze degli Arazzi
, house some of the only ori-
ginal artworks commissioned by the family: nine 16th-century Flemish tapestries repro-
duced from Raphael's original designs for the Sistine Chapel. Woven in Brussels using the
finest English wool, Indian silk and Cypriot gold and silver thread, they represent the cos-
mopolitan sophistication of the Gonzaga court at the height of its power.
BASILICA
Basilica di Sant'Andrea
( 0376 32 85 04; Piazza Andrea Mantegna; 8am-noon & 3-7pm Mon-Fri, 10.30am-noon & 3-6pm
Sat, 11.45am-12.15pm & 3-6pm Sun)
This towering basilica safeguards the golden vessels said
to hold earth soaked by the blood of Christ. Longinus, the Roman soldier who speared
Christ on the cross, is said to have scooped up the earth and buried it in Mantua after leav-
ing Palestine. Today, these containers rest beneath a marble octagon in front of the altar
and are paraded around Mantua in a grand procession on Good Friday.
Ludovico II Gonzaga commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to design the suitably monu-
mental basilica to house the relic in 1472. Its vast, arched interior is free from pillars and
has just one sweeping central aisle, which is covered with frescoes, gilded ceiling blocks
and columns cleverly painted to look like carved stone.
The first chapel on the left contains the tomb of court painter Andrea Mantegna, the
man responsible for the splendours in the Palazzo Ducale's Camera degli Sposi. The
chapel is beautifully lit and contains a painting of the Holy Family and John the Baptist,
attributed to Mantegna and his school.
PALACE
Palazzo Te
( 0376 32 32 66;
www.palazzote.it
; Viale Te; adult/reduced €8/5; 1-6pm Mon, 9am-6pm Tue-Sun)
Hardly more modest in scale than the Palazzo Ducale, Frederico II's (1500-1540) suburb-
