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# 81 JULY 18 , 2016
Twenty bas-relief portraying Vespasiano’s ancestors are exhibited in the
Galleria degli Antenati,
while in the Sala degli Elefanti, a line of elephants is
on the frieze. The elaborate wooden ceiling of the
Sala dei Leoni is the first
of a series of four carved
ceilings and is the only
one made in walnut; the
others are made in Lebanon cedar, a strong and
valuable wood, carved in
the typical Mannerist style as Spanish goldsmithry
was.
On Piazza San Rocco are
the seventeenth-century
Church of San Rocco with
frescoes by Giovanni Morini and the Synagogue
on the second floor of a
group of houses that formed the ancient Jewish
agglomeration. The Synagogue, built by the architect Carlo Visioli in 1824,
has a valuable stuccoed
vault made by Swiss artist
Peter Bull (1840). After the
restoration of 1994 it was
reopened for worship and
the public.
Teatro all’Antica (158890), going on Via Teatro
from Piazza Ducale, is the
# 81 juLY 18 , 2016
first example of a permanent theater in Europe;
originally it was a separate building, not bound to
any existing structure. This
wonderful theater was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi who was called to
Sabbioneta by Vespasiano
after having designed the
Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. On the lower side of
the façade are the portal
and windows surrounded
by a smooth ashlar, while
Doric pilaster strips divide
niches and windows on
the upper one.
twelve Corinthian pillars
on which rest the statues
of the Olympian gods; five
steps join the porch with
the auditorium and so the
audience was put at the
centre of the scene thanks
to continuity among the
different spaces. The sloping floor and the ceiling
accentuated the sense
of depth and the feeling
of being in an open space, as in the greek-roman
amphitheaters. On the added stage there was the
fixed scene designed by
Scamozzi representing an
urban perspective, it was
The interior has a rectan- destroyed in the eightegular plan with a semicir- enth century. In two large
cular open gallery with frescoes on the walls are
painted urban scenes of
Rome that was the figurative model that inspired
the whole Vespasiano’s architectural conception.
Palazzo Giardino (157888) is the delightful place
where the prince took refuge to read, study and distract himself from the efforts of government. The
palace is announced by
the Column of Pallas Athena with an ancient statue
of Hadrian age but it is as
spare outside as it is rich
inside. The rooms at the
first floor host the vast literary culture of Vespasiano,
supported by rich decorative works by Bernardino
Campi
from
Cremona and
his collaborators. Frescoes
depict the fantasy world of
the declining
Renaissance: mannerist
stuccoes and
frescoes in the
room
called
Camera
dei
Miti, the fine
grotesques by
Fornarino that
adorn the walls of Camerino
delle Grazie,
Flemish landscapes and
rural scenes by Campi in
the Sala degli Specchi.
the existing sixteenth-century structure. Going out
the city from Porta Imperiale (1579) with its front
covered with white marble, just outside Sabbioneta are the remains of
the fortress and the circle
of walls that form an irregular star and that can be
seen following the external walkway which highlights six bastions.
The name
The name derives from
the word sabbia, “sand”,
from the alluvial deposits
of the rivers Po and Oglio.
The town was made built
by Vespasiano Gonzaga
Colonna on the dry sand
resulting of a benedectiFrom this room starts ne reclamation during the
the Galleria degli Antichi eleventh century.
(1584-86), 96 meters long,
designed to contain the The product
collection of ancient mar- Cookies called Filos are
bles of the Duke that is typical of Sabbioneta, are
now hosted in in Mantua made with lard and mint
at Palazzo Ducale.
or chocolate pralines. The
sbrisolona cake is prepaGoing on Via Vespasia- red with the old recipe,
no Gonzaga, on the left is different than tradition of
Pa lazzo Forti, owned by a Mantua: with hazelnuts
wealthy Jewish family until instead of almonds and
the first half of the twen- wheat flour instead of corn
tieth century, and on the flour.
right is the Church of the
Carmine (1683) rebuilt on
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