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| Domenico Morone Battle between the Gonzaga and the Bonacolsi (1328) 1494 oil on panel Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Domenico Morone Battle between the Gonzaga and the Bonacolsi (detail) 1494 oil on panel Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
"The Gonzaga family's economic rise began at the end of the thirteenth century with a strategy of acquiring properties in the city and land in the surrounding rural districts; their financial success was soon followed by political prominence. The Gonzaga were in fact the most faithful allies of the Bonacolsi [at the time, the dominant family in the city], at least until August 16, 1328, when with the assistance of the Della Scala family of Verona, Luigi Gonzaga (ca. 1268-1360) and his sons brought down the regime of Rinaldo Bonacolsi, called Passerino, in a matter of hours. Members of the enemy faction were either imprisoned or slaughtered, while the body of Passerino was embalmed and preserved for some time in the Palazzo del Capitano as a sort of macabre talisman. Members of the Gonzaga family soon filled the post of capitano del popolo and were appointed imperial vicars in Mantua, positions that allowed them to wield power without any interference from the commune or its institutions. In a period of only a few years, they expropriated all of the Bonacolsi real-estate holdings, including the prestigious Palazzo del Capitano, which was immediately enlarged, renovated, and redecorated."
– from The Art of Mantua: Power and Patronage in the Renaissance by Barbara Furlotti and Guido Rebecchini, translated by A. Lawrence Jenkens (Getty, 2008)
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| Francesco Bonsignori St John the Baptist, St Paul, St Sebastian 1518-19 oil on panel Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Bartolomeo Fancelli Virgin and Child with St Catherine and Mary Magdalene ca. 1520-25 oil on panel Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| attributed to Rinaldo Mantovano The Flagellation ca. 1539-40 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Gianfrancesco Caroto Tiburtine Sibyl ca. 1540 oil on panel Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| workshop of Giulio Romano Pietà ca. 1540 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| workshop of Girolamo da Carpi Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist and an adoring Pope ca. 1550-55 oil on panel Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Orazio Samacchini Young St John the Baptist in Glory with St Catherine of Alexandria and Pope Silverius ca. 1570-75 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Sante Peranda The Age of Gold 1610 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Palma il Giovane The Age of Bronze ca. 1610 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Palma il Giovane and Sante Peranda Episode from the Story of Cupid and Psyche ca. 1606-1610 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| Palma il Giovane and Sante Peranda Episode from the Story of Cupid and Psyche ca. 1606-1610 oil on canvas Palazzo Ducale, Mantua |
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| workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger Portrait of Margherita Gonzaga d'Este, Duchess of Ferrara ca. 1604-05 oil on canvas Castello di San Giorgio, Mantua |