Francesco II e il Palazzo
A skilful leader and man of culture, Marquis Francesco II Gonzaga had Palazzo San Sebastiano built as his residence, in which he promoted his image as a glorious leader and man of government.
Where is the exhibition section located
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Camera del Porcospino
Camera del Crogiolo
Camera del Porcospino
The ‘Porcospino' room displays a 17th-century copy of Andrea Mantegna's fresco series 'Triumphs of Caesar'. In the centre stands the refined and intense terracotta portrait of Marquis Francesco II, dating from the end of the 15th century and attributed to the sculptor Gian Cristoforo Romano.
Camera del Crogiolo
The 'Crogiolo' Chamber presents numerous works that give an insight into the culture, historical and artistic interests and the construction of an image for power, of Francesco II Gonzaga.
In front of the entrance there are three important busts of Virgil, the Carmelite Battista Spagnoli and the Marquis himself, while on the entrance wall is an 18th-century gloss of Andrea Mantegna's 'Madonna della Vittoria Altarpiece' - the original of which is now in the Louvre in Paris - and an evocative torn fresco from the school of Mantegna illustrating the theme of the crossroads between virtue and vice.
