Palazzo Ducale | Galleria degli Specchi

The Sala or Galleria degli Specchi is located in the oldest part of Palazzo Ducale called Corte Vecchia. Originally, the hall was built in the form of a loggia, opening onto the cour d’honneur, but by 1611 it was closed and housed the most important paintings of the Gonzaga’s collection.

The gallery had the largest pictorial decoration in the palace, datable to around 1618 and celebrates sciences and the arts, with allegorical figures drawn from Cesare Ripa’s Iconology. The Parnassus was painted together with the portraits of well known poets (at least Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, Ariosto and Tasso are recognized) and Apollo and the Muses and the Allegory of the Liberal Arts in the two lunettes at the two ends of the hall.