These nine frescoes were painted in the late 16th century to decorate a hall in the palace of the noble Mantuan Petrozzani family. They were torn off, mounted on panels in 1938-39 and purchased by Prassitele Piccinini who donated them to the state.
The entire series is attributed to the painter Ludovico Dondi (before 1585 – 1623), superintendent of the ducal collections of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, and very faithfully reproduces the extraordinary large tempera canvases, painted between 1486 and 1506, by Andrea Mantegna for the Gonzagas, known as The Triumphs of Caesar.
In order to display them, Francesco II Gonzaga had a magnificent hall on the first floor specially built in this palace: “In the last part of the city, near the Church of San Sebastiano, [Francesco II] built a superb and beautiful palace, to certainly place the work of Andrea Mantegna, the triumph of C. Julius Caesar, in a hall built for this sole purpose for many years”.
In 1626-27 the precious canvases were sold by the Gonzaga family to the King of England, Charles I Stuart, and are today exhibited at Hampton Court (London).
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