Ducal Palace Mantua
Isabella d'Este, daughter of Hercules I., Duke of Ferrara, and Eleanor of Aragon, became Marchioness of Mantua in 1490, by her marriage with Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga. He provided for her residence only a rugged fortress, and, following a custom of Italian princesses of the time, her first care was to make in the Castelio Vecchio of Mantua a small and elegant retreat to be devoted to meditation, work and intellectual intercourse. During the great periods of art, these choice rooms camerini ,...