Description
Mantua Cathedral, dedicated to St Peter, closes the north side of Piazza Sordello, a few steps from the Palazzo Ducale: a building that brings three eras together at a glance, with its Baroque façade, Gothic flank and Romanesque bell tower.
The surprise is inside. Giulio Romano, called in to rebuild it after a fire, turned it in 1545 into a basilica with five aisles, divided by four rows of fluted Corinthian columns, modelled on Old St Peter's in Rome, before Bramante, Raphael and Sangallo transformed it.
The marble façade was raised between 1756 and 1761, replacing the Gothic one. On top stand eight statues of saints, among them Peter, Paul and Anselm, the city's patron saint.
The right flank is what remains of the Gothic cathedral built by the Venetians Jacobello and Pierpaolo dalle Masegne at the end of the 14th century: a row of chapels crowned with marble and brick spires and gables.
On the left side opens the Sanctuary of the Virgin Incoronata, perhaps designed by Luca Fancelli around 1480, next to the 15th-century sacristy, whose vault with medallions is by Mantegna's school. Over the crossing, the dome is painted with Paradise.
The works of art include an Early Christian sarcophagus from the 4th or 5th century and, in the apse conch, a large fresco of the Trinity by Antonio Maria Viani, of about 180 square metres. The baptistery keeps frescoes from the early 14th century.
The cathedral is also the city's pantheon. The high altar holds the body of St Anselm, who died in Mantua in 1086; also buried here are Boniface of Canossa, Matilda's father, and Luigi I Gonzaga, the founder of the dynasty.
The Gothic façade, with its porch, rose windows and pinnacles, was demolished in 1756. We know what it looked like thanks to a painting by Domenico Morone, now in the Palazzo Ducale. Francesco I Gonzaga had commissioned it in 1395 to celebrate the birth of his first son.
During the French occupation many works were taken to France. Paolo Veronese's Temptations of St Anthony Abbot, one of ten canvases commissioned by Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, is still in the museum of Caen, in Normandy.
Don't miss
• Giulio Romano's five aisles.
• The Gothic flank by the dalle Masegne.
• Sanctuary of the Incoronata.
• Early Christian sarcophagus.
Did you know?
• The chapels in the side aisles are not real chapels: Giulio Romano had designed two more aisles there, later closed off by a railing.
• The marble façade was designed by Nicolò Baschiera, an engineer in the Austrian army.
The surprise is inside. Giulio Romano, called in to rebuild it after a fire, turned it in 1545 into a basilica with five aisles, divided by four rows of fluted Corinthian columns, modelled on Old St Peter's in Rome, before Bramante, Raphael and Sangallo transformed it.
The marble façade was raised between 1756 and 1761, replacing the Gothic one. On top stand eight statues of saints, among them Peter, Paul and Anselm, the city's patron saint.
The right flank is what remains of the Gothic cathedral built by the Venetians Jacobello and Pierpaolo dalle Masegne at the end of the 14th century: a row of chapels crowned with marble and brick spires and gables.
On the left side opens the Sanctuary of the Virgin Incoronata, perhaps designed by Luca Fancelli around 1480, next to the 15th-century sacristy, whose vault with medallions is by Mantegna's school. Over the crossing, the dome is painted with Paradise.
The works of art include an Early Christian sarcophagus from the 4th or 5th century and, in the apse conch, a large fresco of the Trinity by Antonio Maria Viani, of about 180 square metres. The baptistery keeps frescoes from the early 14th century.
The cathedral is also the city's pantheon. The high altar holds the body of St Anselm, who died in Mantua in 1086; also buried here are Boniface of Canossa, Matilda's father, and Luigi I Gonzaga, the founder of the dynasty.
The Gothic façade, with its porch, rose windows and pinnacles, was demolished in 1756. We know what it looked like thanks to a painting by Domenico Morone, now in the Palazzo Ducale. Francesco I Gonzaga had commissioned it in 1395 to celebrate the birth of his first son.
During the French occupation many works were taken to France. Paolo Veronese's Temptations of St Anthony Abbot, one of ten canvases commissioned by Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, is still in the museum of Caen, in Normandy.
Don't miss
• Giulio Romano's five aisles.
• The Gothic flank by the dalle Masegne.
• Sanctuary of the Incoronata.
• Early Christian sarcophagus.
Did you know?
• The chapels in the side aisles are not real chapels: Giulio Romano had designed two more aisles there, later closed off by a railing.
• The marble façade was designed by Nicolò Baschiera, an engineer in the Austrian army.