Mantua old town 6
by Rudi Prott
Title
Mantua old town 6
Artist
Rudi Prott
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Mantua (Italian: Mantova) is a city and province capital in eastern Lombardy, Italy.
In 2008 Mantua's old town and Sabbioneta were declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family has made it one of the main artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Italy. Having one of the most splendid courts of Europe of the 15th to early 17th century. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera; the city is also known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces, and the medieval and Renaissance cityscape.
In the 6th century BC Mantua was an Etruscan village . The name may derive from the Etruscan god Mantus. Mantua's most famous ancient citizen is the poet Virgil, who was born in the year 70 BC at a village near the city. Mantua went more prosperous and artistically beautiful. In 1328 Luigi Gonzaga, an official of zjr mayor's office and his family staged a public revolt and forced a coup d'état on the last Bonacolsi ruler.
Ludovico Gonzaga was duly elected Capitano del popolo. The Gonzagas built new walls with five gates and renovated the city in the 14th century. During the Italian Renaissance, the Gonzaga family further raised the level of culture and refinement in Mantua. It became a significant centre of Renaissance art and humanism. Marquis Gianfrancesco Gonzaga had brought Vittorino da Feltre to Mantua in 1423 to open his famous humanist school, the Casa Giocosa.
In 1459, Pope Pius II held the Council of Mantua to proclaim a crusade against the Turks. Under Ludovico and his heirs, the famous Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna worked in Mantua as court painter, producing some of his most outstanding works.
In the Duchy of Mantua the first Duke was Federico II Gonzaga, who acquired the title from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530. Federico commissioned Giulio Romano to build the famous Palazzo Te and profoundly improved the city. In the late 16th century, Monteverdi came to Mantua. He worked for the court first as a singer and violist, then as music director.
In 1627, the direct line of the Gonzaga family came to an end and Mantua slowly declined under the new rulers, the Gonzaga-Nevers, a cadet French branch of the family. The War of the Mantuan Succession broke out and in 1630 an Imperial army besieged and sacked Mantua, bringing the plague with them.
This image shows Piazza Sordello with the Cathedral of San Pietro seen from the portico of the Palazzo del Capitano.
Copyright by Rudi Prott.
Uploaded
May 11th, 2023
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