The Empire and the Giants

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.  

Passing through the Loggia of David the visitor enters a rectangular space that is decorated by stuccoes representing divinities and scenes from ancient Rome. The work is by Francesco Primaticcio, one of the collaborators of Giulio Romano, who was here assisted by Giovan Battista Mantovano. The artist also contributed to the realization of the frescoes of Fontainebleu in France. The stuccoes are divided between the barrel vault, divided into twenty-five squares, and the double area of friezes that delimits it. A curious detail: one of the scenes is a baptism, out of context with respect to the other classical scenes represented. The reference is to an episode of Roman history narrated on Trajan's Column and on the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The intention of Giulio Romano was to glorify the classical word by surprising the visitor with the great many characters represented in the scenes.

Before the Hall of the Giants, we pass through the Hall of the Emperors, glorification of the greatness of ancient Rome, ideally preceded by the achievements of Alexander the Great, who is represented with his father Philip II of Macedon next to Julius Caesar and Augustus. It is not certain whether Primaticcio and Rinaldo Mantovano are the authors of these frescoes. Next to the four sovereigns there are two tondoes, which illustrate the virtues of a just ruler.

A marvellous art work that still today fascinates visitors: the Hall of the Giants, a room made to look like a cave, is decorated with representations of monstrous creatures waging an attack on the Mount Olympus and the heavens. Jupiter is fighting to defend his children. Giulio Romano turned the vault into a sky, with a series of not concentric circles. The perspective reaches a climax,  something that was later imitated by many artists, with a canopy under which stands the throne of the king of the gods. Significantly it is empty, although there is an   eagle that represents both Jupiter and the empire. The entire representation also has a political meaning, in that it alludes to the triumph of Charles V and the defeat of his enemy. It is interesting to see how the painter, probably Rinaldo Mantovano, creates a chaotic and indistinct crowd of divinities, almost hidden behind the white clouds, frightened by the march of the Giants who are about to fall, hit by lightening. 

The small Chamber, also known as the eight sided chamber, is decorated with lively grotesques which represent small figures painted in a vegetal context. The main author of the work is Luca da Faenza, while the stuccoes are the work of  Andrea de Conti.  

The freize in this room is the only work that dates to the period of Giulio Romano; the authors are Nicolò da Milano and Giovan Battista Mantovano. It is the usual classical representation of  prisoners, army trophies and bacchic scenes. The distribution of the space of the frieze, decorated with tondoes and squares, is complex.