Description
Palazzo Valenti Gonzaga is the Baroque residence of the Valenti Gonzaga marquises on Via Frattini, in the centre of Mantua: its piano nobile houses the Galleria Museo Valenti Gonzaga, where the 17th-century frescoes and statues are still in their original places.
The family had lived here since the 16th century; in 1670 the Flemish artist Frans Geffels transformed it in the Baroque style, while the façade is attributed to Nicolò Sebregondi. Inside, the highlights are the frescoes by Geffels and eighteen statues attributed to Giovanni Battista Barberini, along with a collection of antique books.
The visit takes you through the rooms of the piano nobile, the inner courtyard, the cellars and the icehouse. Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, a great art collector, was born here. After the family's decline the palace lay abandoned and stripped for a long time, until its restoration in the 1990s. Next door is the 15th-century House of Blessed Osanna Andreasi, also a museum.
The family had lived here since the 16th century; in 1670 the Flemish artist Frans Geffels transformed it in the Baroque style, while the façade is attributed to Nicolò Sebregondi. Inside, the highlights are the frescoes by Geffels and eighteen statues attributed to Giovanni Battista Barberini, along with a collection of antique books.
The visit takes you through the rooms of the piano nobile, the inner courtyard, the cellars and the icehouse. Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, a great art collector, was born here. After the family's decline the palace lay abandoned and stripped for a long time, until its restoration in the 1990s. Next door is the 15th-century House of Blessed Osanna Andreasi, also a museum.