Loggia of David

A place where all paths cross: the loggia opens up to the garden on one side, on the other it gives onto the cour d'honneur. It was admired by Charles V during his second visit to Mantua in 1532. The protagonist of the scenes decorating the loggia is not a legendary figure but a character from the Old Testament. He is both the captain defending Israel and the young hero defeating Goliath, who is in love with the beautiful Bathsheba. The frescoes are the work of various painters: Luca da Faenza, Rinaldo Mantovano, Fermo da Caravaggio, Benedetto Pagni. Worthy of note are also the stuccoes and the sculptures representing the Virtues, which date to the seventeenth century.