Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an villa is decorated in playboy style with stunning frescoes and encoded symbols. A
Renaissance pleasure-dome, it is the finest work of Mannerist architect Giulio Romano.
Having escaped a prison sentence for designing pornographic prints, Romano was the
perfect choice for the commission. Using the trompe l'oeil technique, he eschewed the
cool classicism of the past in favour of a fanciful Mannerist scheme of wildly distorted
perspectives, pastel colours and esoteric symbols.
The second room, the
Camera delle Imprese
(Room of the Devices) sets the scene with a
number of key symbols: the salamander, the symbol of Federico; the eagles of the
Gonzaga standard; and Mt Olympus, the symbol of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,
from whom the Gonzaga received their titles. The purpose of Renaissance devices was to
encode messages so that visitors to the palace could 'read' the political and personal
power structures. Federico's device, the salamander, is accompanied by the quote:
quod
hic deest, me torquet
(what you lack, torments me), alluding to his uncontrollably passion-
ate nature when compared to the cold-blooded salamander.
The culmination of the villa's narrative comes together in the
Camera dei Giganti
(Cham-
ber of the Giants), a domed room frescoed with towering figures of the rebellious giants
(disloyal subjects) clawing their way up Mt Olympus (symbol of Charles V) only to be
laid low by Jupiter's (Charles') thunderbolt. As the viewer you are both spectator and par-
ticipant; standing in the centre of the scene, the worried faces of Olympian gods stare
down at you - would-be presumptuous giant or loyal subject?
The symbolism was not lost on Emperor Charles V, who visited the palace in 1530 and
afterwards raised Federico up from a marquis to a duke.
Activities
On a sunny day the people of Mantua head for the waterfront. The shore of
Lago di Mezzo
,
complete with the child-friendly
Parco della Scienza
(outdoor science park), is the most
crowded; the quieter path beside
Lago Superiore
meanders through reed beds before peter-
ing out, while the shore of
Lago Inferiore
brings broad views. At all three you'll find water-
side snack bars.
La Rigola
( 0376 36 66 77; Via Trieste 7; per day from €10)
Hire bikes here, and the tourist office (
Click
here
) stocks the excellent, English-language booklet,
Mantova in Bici,
detailing cycling
CYCLING
