L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LAURA STORTONI-HAGER B efore this year is over, we must talk about Mantua. E v e r y y e a r t h e I t a l i a n government chooses a city to be the Italian Capital of Culture, during which the designated town enjoys the spotlight and hosts various cultural events to celebrate its past and its attrac- tions. This year that city has been Mantua. Mantua lies in the lower part of the region of Lombardy, in the valley of the river Mincio. The great Roman poet Vergil was born here, as he wrote in his famous lines: "Mantua me genu- it, Calabri rapuere…." (Mantua gave me birth, Calabria stole me a w a y … ) . M a n t u a i s o n e o f southernmost towns of the vast Po valley, and is surrounded and defended by three lakes formed by the Mincio. Mantua contains remarkably varied architecture, with buildings going back to the Roman, Byzantine and medieval periods, and to the splendid mas- terpieces of the Renaissance and the Baroque periods. It is not a large town, but it could be called a literal concentration of won- ders. As Mantua is near and well connected to other major cities b o t h b y t r a i n a n d b y t h e Autostrada, there is no excuse not to go visit it! Especially s i n c e , i n 2 0 0 8 , M a n t u a w a s nominated by UNESCO as a part of the World Heritage trea- sures. Mantua it is not far from my hometown of Milan, so I have visited it several times: there is so much of interest to see that every time I discovered more. Mantua's first inhabitants were the Etruscans. Then came the Romans. But now, when you say Mantua, you think Gonzaga, the family that managed to gain supremacy in the territory, and that through a dynastic marriage also gained a large territory out- side Lombardy, Monferrato in Piedmont, thus becoming one of the most important dynasties in Italy. From the fourteenth centu- r y o n , t h e G o n z a g a d y n a s t y e n r i c h e d t h e t o w n w i t h a r t works. The various Gonzaga rulers had taste, money, and an u n c a n n y i n t u i t i o n . S o t h e y employed the greatest artists of t h e i r t i m e s : L e o n B a t t i s t a A l b e r t i , P i s a n e l l o , A n d r e a M a n t e g n a , G i u l i o R o m a n o , Rubens, just to mention a few. The Gonzaga spent fortunes on paintings and sculptures, and created a vast art collection that rivalled the ones of the Pope and of the Medici family. Two artists in particular are connected to the court of Mantua: the first is Andrea Mantegna, and the sec- ond Giulio Romano. The two main attractions are the ducal palaces: the first is the Duke's Palace, within the walls of the medieval city, and the second is the Palace del Te, outside the walls. I will start with the oldest. The meandering ducal palace is a large labyrinth of some five hundred rooms, built at different times and in different styles. Dating back to the 13 th century, it forms a huge, interconnected complex of buildings, towers, c o u r t s , g a r d e n s a n d p a s s a g e ways that were added as time passed. This palace contains magnificent frescoes by Andrea M a n t e g n a , h o n o r i n g t h e Gonzaga family. Mantegna, the innovative master of perspective and foreshortening, was insis- tently courted by the Gonzaga, and finally came to Mantua, where he was appointed court painter in 1460 at a vertiginous salary. Here he executed the stunning frescoes in the Camera degli Sposi, the Wedding Room. Many of the tourists come to Mantua especially to see these frescoes. On the North wall of this hall you see a stately court scene, where in an illusionistic indoor setting you see the family, all around Ludovico III Gonzaga a n d h i s w i f e B a r b a r a o f Brandenburg, meeting visiting dignitaries. Of particular interest is the figure of the court dwarf, who seems to be looking at the viewer with her piercing eyes. Magnificently portrayed are the rich costumes of the time, with the men wearing stockings of different colors on each leg. On the west wall, there is a meeting scene, in which, in an outdoor illusionistic landscape, one sees the meeting of Ludovico with his son, just consecrated Cardinal Francesco, and the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick III and King Christian 1 st of Denmark. But the pièce de resistance is the c e i l i n g w i t h i t s m a g n i f i c e n t trompe l'oeil and foreshortening effects. This technique is called "dal sotto in su," that is, from d o w n t o u p , o r w o r m ' s e y e vision, which creates a stunning tri-dimensional effect. This fres- co punches open the ceiling to reveal the blue sky. It represents the opening of a well with a b a l u s t r a d e a l l a r o u n d , f r o m which people curiously peep d o w n , w i t h p u t t i f r o l i c k i n g around it, with birds and angels hovering, all painted with the f o r e s h o r t e n i n g t e c h n i q u e Mantegna discovered and was so renowned for. A bravura piece by Mantegna, who also shows here an uncharacteristic sense of h u m o r ( t h e a r t c r i t i c V a s a r i described him as somewhat can- tankerous), as he includes the famous detail of a large wooden flower tub, precariously held up by a thin stick and hovering over the people looking up at the illu- sionistic opening. I remember I got a terrible stiff neck staring at it, almost wondering when this tub would suddenly fall down on us! Such is the visual genius of Mantegna, who was so important in the artistic development of Mantua that he was buried in the B a s i l i c a o f h i s p a t r o n s a i n t , Sant'Andrea. In the town, everywhere, we can find traces of the lives of the f a m o u s n o b l e l a d i e s o f t h e dynasty. We can breathe the ambition of those lords of yore, and the efforts of the court ladies to outdo one another. Isabella d'Este, who married Francesco II and had seven children with him, is one of the most impor- t a n t w o m e n o f t h e I t a l i a n Renaissance. One of the great attractions of the ducal castle is her famous "studiolo," or office, a magnificent room where she conducted business, practiced diplomacy, and wrote incessant- ly: we have more than twenty- eight thousand letters of hers! We can see her in a drawing by Leonardo, where she appears with long flowing hair and a low cut dress. For several years, while Francesco II was at war and then imprisoned in Venice, she was the Regent. It was said that when he was finally freed the duke was jealous that his wife had ruled over Mantua bet- ter than he did. This year Mantua has wit- nessed numerous cultural events, due to its being the Capital of Culture 2016, events going from music, to painting, to festivals, to lectures and to manifestations of every kind. Mantua has been pampered, caressed, re-valued. But alas, be it as it may, one can never forget the tragic loss of the inestimable Gonzaga art collec- tion, a large number of master- pieces painstakingly picked and dearly purchased by six dynas- ties of Gonzaga rulers, and gath- e r e d i n w h a t w a s c a l l e d t h e Celeste Galeria, the Celestial Gallery. It included paintings by Mantegna, Andrea del Sarto, Raphael, Giulio Romano, Titian, Tintoretto (both Domenico and Jacopo), Correggio, Guido Reni, Perugino, Caravaggio….. just to n a m e a f e w . B u t t h e n c a m e Duke Vincenzo II (1594-1627), the son of Vincenzo I and of Eleonora de' Medici, who was t h e l a s t d u k e o f t h e d i r e c t Gonzaga line. He inexplicably sold the bulk of the Gonzaga art collection to Charles I, King of England, for a ridiculously low sum of money: a senseless act for which the people of Mantua h a v e n e v e r f o r g i v e n h i m . Thankfully, during the times of Duke Vincenzo I and of Duke Federico all these legendary art works had been carefully inven- toried, which helped trace them as they travelled the world after their ill-advised sale and subse- quent diaspora. When as a teen e x c h a n g e - s t u d e n t I v i s i t e d London for the first time, I was surprised to find that the muse- ums there contained so many masterpieces of our Italian art. In the times of Duke Federico II (1500-1540) things were quite crowded in the Palazzo Ducale. T h e D u k e w a s m a r r i e d t o M a r g h e r i t a P a l e o l o g a , w i t h whom he had seven children, and his mother Isabella was still living. (Mother and son actually died in the same year). And then there was "La bella Boschetta," the duke's mistress, Isabella Boschetti, with whom he sired two children. A difficult situa- tion. So Federico commissioned famous Mannerist architect- painter Giulio Romano to create a n a l t e r n a t e c a s t l e , a " f u n " palace, outside the walls of the old Mantua, a palace where his b elo v ed mis tr es s co u ld p lay court outside the court. It is named the Palazzo del Te, Te pronounced as if the "e" had an accent on it. Of this incredible palace, inspired by the Duke's overwhelming passion turned into solid stone, I will write in my next article. Stay tuned! Mantua: Italian Capital of Culture 2016 LIFE PEOPLE MOVIES MUSIC BOOKS Details of Palazzo Ducale on Piazza Castello in Mantua - Italy— Photo by fedevphoto

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