At Blessed Osanna's House

Osanna Andreasi was born in Carbonarola, in the district of Carbonara di Po, in 1449. Her destiny, however, led her to the Gonzaga court where, during her life, Ludovico, then Federico and finally Federico II, married to Isabelle d’Este, reigned. Osanna lived in her home in Mantua with her brothers and sisters, her parents and other relatives. Already at the age of fifteen she joined the Terziarie Secolari  of the Dominican Order. It is not clear why she formed a lasting and strong relationship with the Mantuan marquises, although according to some unverified information her mother was related to the Gonzaga. Although there is almost no record of significant events in her life, it is possible to say that the future Blessed managed her house with a spiritual authority that was evidently innate, though maintaining the simplicity and openness of a woman from a low social class. Some claim she was illiterate; however, about one hundred insighful letters of hers have survived, and a composition titled “‘Libello della vita sua propria e de’ doni spirituali da Dio a lei collate” (The story of her life and of the spiritual gifts conferred on her by God).

The coat of arms of the noble Andreasi family, as is visible in this capital dating to the 15th century, was a swan accompanied by a star. The family had a very long history: some speak of Longobard origins, others claim the family was originally from Hungary. It is said that in the 12th century the brothers Trumanno and Alberto served Frederick Barbarossa as mercenaries, and that they were given lands in the district of Mantua. A series of descendants followed and in the 15th century thirty-four families bore the same name. One of the most famous figures in this history is the secretary Marsilio Andreasi, who is represented in the Bridal Chamber of the Ducal Palace, a man who was close to the marquise Ludovico. However, here the interest must be focused on the ancestors of Osanna, originally from Carbonara, a small village near the river Po. Niccolò Cappa Andreasi, Osanna’s father, also from Carbonara, bought a house in Mantua in 1475; this is the house we can admire today. It is worth noting that Osanna’s branch of the family soon died out, while a different line thrived and in the course of the centuries gave birth to Luigia, born in 1761. She married Gian Battista Magnaguti. A series of inheritances meant the building was eventually owned by Alessandro Magnaguti, born in 1887, who renovated it in 1926. In 1966, a few months before dying, he donated the main floor to the Provincia Domenicana Utriusque Lombardiae. In 1991, the same Provincia Domenicana acquired the rest of the building.

In this frescoed section on the east wall of the room we see grotesques painted with swift strokes: angles with last judgement trumpets, a satyr holding a banner, the god Saturn intent on adjusting a clock, and a reference to autumn: two men fabricating two large barrels that will be soon filled with wine. Run down houses, city landscapes, fantastic animals, even two small smiling moons, a waning moon and a waxing moon. Imagination is given free rein, we could say, in a mix of colour and plaster.

This small room on the ground floor, next to the Sala delle Stagioni, displays some remarkable decorative frescoes dating to the second half of the 15th century, so to the same years our Blessed lived. A series of columns, which imitate antique columns, with a curious enlargement at the bottom, seems to be supporting a series of slender festoons, under a frieze characterized by a dark background and a motif showing moustachioed masks, which alternate with amphorae surrounded by small eagles. The Corinthian capitals are golden, while the columns are fake black marble. On the whole the decoration constitutes a small pavilion.   

The small room on the mezzanine floor appears to be a small studio, a place for meditation and reflection. It is perhaps one of the most suggestive rooms in the House. The decoration was started in the second half of the 14th century and finished a few decades later. The prevailing material is wood, starting from the sophisticated doors, painted with floral motifs. From a pictorial point of view what most stands out are the decorations on the strip just below the low ceiling: parrots, monkeys, fantastic creatures adorning the strip, guard the amphorae, symbol of fertility and life. A very old motif, originally from the Middle East, can be seen on the beams of the ceiling: lions with couples of amphorae, this time stylized, further enliven the visual experience of the room.   

This room on the first floor, not a large one, gives onto the garden, and bears decorations that are perhaps the most interesting in the whole House. White bulb-shaped columns, enlivened by plant motifs, give a rhythm to the room, with golden capitals, similar to the ones in the small room on the ground floor. Above them a magnificent strip with a dark background, depicting sea horses and amphorae, from which a fantastical being emerges. We are obviously in the first decades of the 16th century. The capitals support garlands and festoons, on which signs reading Latin moral quotes are hung. For example, the one on the left of the image reads: “No man who lives a long life can be said to be happy”.  

The so called Room of the Grotesques, on the first floor, opens up on the opposite side of the garden, so giving onto the public street. Here many of the objects once belonging to the Blessed are kept, together with her funerary mask and the plaster mould of her face. Pictorially, the room stands out because of the late 15th century frescoes, similar to the ones that appear in the large Sala delle Stagioni on the ground floor. Here the stroke is even more naïf, which does not however diminish the spontaneous quality of the figures and the variety of the themes depicted. There is a large strip close to the ceiling where various motifs alternate, all inspired by a certain joyousness and playfulness. Imaginary pavilions, views of houses, animals, fauna, flowers and fruit, telamones, fantastic creatures, symbols out of context. In short, the evolution of the concept of grotesque beyond Mannerism, pointing to Baroque.