Palazzo Art History Essay

Context Few windows overlook the inner courtyard (cortile) the columned walls argon decorated on all sides by deep niches and blind windows, and the interact surfaces argon spattered by spezzato (broken and blemished plaster) giving life and skill to the surfaces. Function pleasure palace, or Villa SuburbanaDescription terms four outside faades have flat pilasters against rusticated walls Intent pleasure palace, or Villa SuburbanaPalazzo del Te or Palazzo Te is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine interpreter of the mannerist style of architecture, the ack immediatelyledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. The official name, and by far the to the highest degree common name in Italian, is Palazzo Te, but this may be a relatively recent usage Vasari calls it the Palazzo del T (pronounced as Te), and communicatory writers, especially art historians, continue to call it the Palazzo del Te. In Italian this now suggests use for tea-drinking, which may account for the d ivergence in usage.HideDescriptionPalazzo del Te is a square frame of referenceing, constructed 1524-1534 for Federico II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. He decided in 1524 to build a pleasure palace, or Villa Suburbana. The site chosen was that of the familys stables at Isola del Te on the fringe of the marshes just outside Mantuas city walls.The architect commissioned was Giulio Romano, a pupil of Raphael. The shell of the palazzo was erected within 18 months. It is basically a square house built around a cloistered courtyard. A formal garden complemented the house. This was enclosed by colonnaded outbuildings terminated by a semi-circular colonnade known as the Esedra. comparable the Villa Farnesina in Rome, the suburban location allowed for a mixing of both castle and Villa architecture. The four exterior faades have flat pilasters against rusticated walls, the fenestration indicating that the piano nobile is on the fuze floor with a secondary floor above. The East faade differ s from the other three by having Palladian motifs on its pilaster and an open loggia at its gist rather than an arch to the courtyard. The facades are not as symmetrical as they appear, and the spans between the columns are irregular. The centre of the North and South facades are punctured by two-storey arches without portico or pediment, simply a covered way lead story to the interior courtyard.Few windows overlook the inner courtyard (cortile) the colonnaded walls are decorated on all sides by deep niches and blind windows, and the step in surfaces are spattered by spezzato (broken and blemished plaster) giving life and attainment to the surfaces. Once the shell of the building was completed, for ten years a aggroup of plasterers, carvers and fresco painters laboured, until barely a surface in any of the loggias or salons remained undecorated. Under Giulio Romanos direction, local decorative painters such as Benedetto Pagni and Rinaldo Mantovano worked extensively on the fr escos. These frescoes remain today and are the virtually remarkable consume of the Palazzo. The subjects range from Olympian banquets in the Sala di Psiche and stylised horses in the Sala dei Cavalli to the most crotchety of all giants and grotesques wreaking havoc, fury and ruin around the walls of the Sala dei Giganti.Mannerisms most famous fresco Giulio Romanos illusionism invents a dome overhead and dissolves the populates architecture in the Fall of the Giants. These magnificent rooms, at once furnish to complement the ducal court of the Gonzaga family, saw many of the most illustrious figures of their era entertained such as the Emperor Charles V, who, when visiting in 1530, elevated his host Federico II of Gonzaga from Marquess to Duke of Mantua.One of the most smelling(p) parts of the lost era of the palazzo is the Casino della Grotta, a small retinue of intimate rooms arranged around a grotto and loggetta (covered balcony) where courtiers once bathed in the small c ascade that splashed over the pebbles and shells encrusted in the floor and walls.In 1630 Mantua and the palace were sacked by invading forces, the stay population fell victim to one of the worst plagues in history. The Palazzo was ravaged from top to bottom and remained an alter shell nymphs, god, goddesses and giants remain on the walls of the empty echoing rooms.Part of the Palazzo today houses the Museo Civico del Palazzo Te, endowed by the publisher Arnoldo Mondadori. It contains a collection of Mesopotamian art.