The second trip of the “MEHITS for ART” project with destination to Mantua took place on Saturday, February 24^th. The participation of 3 colleagues from Pavia plants was positive, in addition to the now loyal M11 members. Thank you all!

There is perhaps no city in northern Italy that sums up the history of Renaissance architecture better than Mantua. And we realized this by visiting the works of Leon Battista Alberti and Giulio Romano!

The former, in the mid-15th century, theorized a new idea of architecture based on the rediscovery of antiquity, especially of the late lamented imperial Rome. First in the Church of San Sebastiano and then fully in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea, Alberti approached the theme of the basilican hall and triumphal arch in a Christian point of view, inaugurating a style that would be very successful later.

The second, on the other hand, half a century later, sought to give pomp to the city by reinterpreting the idea of the Roman domus in his celebrated Palazzo Te. Created to amaze the sixteenth-century visitor to the Gonzaga court, even we contemporary visitors after centuries could not help but be amazed by Giulio Romano’s solutions, especially in the Sala dei Giganti where the totally immersive fresco cancels the physical limits of the room enveloping the viewer as if in an ante litteram virtual reality.

If you enjoyed the initiative, leave us a comment below!