Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Palazzo Schifanoia
(Via Scandiana 23; adult/reduced €6/3; 9am-6pm Tue-Sun)
Ferrara's most famous frescoes are
in the Este's 14th-century pleasure palace built in 1385. The museum is bitingly ordinary
at first, but hold out until the
Salone dei Mesi (
Room of the Months), where frescoes ex-
ecuted by Francesco del Cossa in 1470 depict the months, seasons and signs of the zodiac.
Some are badly faded, but they are unusually unreligious in tone and the only ones of
their type in Italy.
PALACE, MUSEUM
Museo Lapidario
MUSEUM
(Via Camposabbionario; 9am-6pm Tue-Sun)
Your ticket to Schifanoia also gives entry to this
nearby museum, which has a small, undocumented collection of Roman and Etruscan
stele, tombs and inscriptions.
Palazzo Massari
(Corso Porta Mare 9)
This is another early Renaissance palace, but this time the art inside is
punchier and more modern. The best of the building's museums is the
Museo Giovanni
3-6pm Tue-Sun)
, dedicated solely to the works of Ferrara-born Giovanni Boldini, the so-
called 'Master of Swish' (check out the brush technique). His portraits of women from
Victorian rigidity to 1920s chic are amazing.
(adult/reduced incl Museo Giovanni Boldini €6/3; 9am-1pm & 3-6pm Tue-Sun)
with its 19th-cen-
tury art and a pleasant sculpture garden. You must pay extra for the
Museo d'Arte Moderna e
3-6pm Tue-Sun)
, half of which is devoted to the said modern Ferraranese painter famous for
his cityscapes and still-life works.
The palazzo and its museums were temporarily closed for restoration at time of writing,
but should have reopened by the time you read this.
PALACE, MUSEUM
