Estense Castle

Estense Castle in Ferrara

The Castello Estense is a castle of the d'Este family in Ferrara . In the 14th and 15th centuries, when Ferrara was flourishing among the Estonians, the Castello served as the residence of the dukes. The family's rich art collection was also located here. After the Estonians relocated their ancestral home to Modena at the end of the 16th century , the Castello lost its importance. After the unification of Italy, it was bought by the province. Today it is the seat of the provincial administration. When severe earthquake in the Emilia-Romagna in May 2012 as part of the historic center of Ferrara suffered UNESCO - World Heritage counting building heavy destruction.

The d'Este family

Coat of arms of the Estonians, 1471

The d'Este family is named after the city of the same name in Veneto . The first information about the family comes from the 9th century AD, when the Marquis Azzo VI. came to Ferrara to suppress the internal quarrels between Guelphs and Ghibellines and to take control of the city.

In 1264, Obizzo II, still a child, was proclaimed ruler of the city, and in the following years he received the same rank in Modena and Reggio . Long years of difficult disputes ensued, but by the end of the 13th century the power of the Estonians was finally consolidated.

Thus began the long history that made the city of Ferrara one of the most important cultural and political centers in Europe. Niccolò III. made his family international fame, under him the Ecumenical Council took place here in 1438 . Leonello, student of Guarino Veronese, surrounded himself with artists and scholars; his successor Borso received the rank of duke from the emperor and the pope. Ercole I was one of the most important patrons of Europe: he promoted music and called the most famous musicians of the era to Ferrara; he promoted theater and fine arts. Through his court architect Biagio Rossetti, he had the city expanded to the north. His wife, Eleonora of Aragón , administered the city with extraordinary skill. Even Alfonso I. promoted the art. His second wife, Lucrezia Borgia , was respected as an honorable woman in Ferrara. Ercole II , married to Renée from France, had to cope with the problems of the Reformation in his duchy. Alfonso II administered the duchy with less luck and eventually lost it; nevertheless, art and science flourished under him, mainly thanks to the Estonian women: the duke's sisters, Eleonora and Lucrezia, and his third wife, Margherita Gonzaga.

Estonian women

Lucrezia Borgia
Isabella d'Este
Eleonora Gonzaga

After Duke Alfonso II. D'Este died without a legal heir, Pope Clement VIII prevented a succession by the pretender Cesare. Cesare left Ferrara and moved to Modena.

Castle of the Estonians

In 1385 there was a revolt in Ferrara over the oppressive tax burden, which ended with the murder of the finance minister and judge Tommaso da Tortona. This incident prompted the Marquis Niccolò II. D'Este to build a defense system for himself and his family. This is how the Castello di San Michele was created, a fortress against the people.

Niccolò II commissioned the architect Bartolino da Novara with the project. He built the fort at the height of today's Corso Giovecca and Viale Cavour on a tower that, as the so-called lion tower, was already part of an earlier fortress in the north of the city. Three more towers were built, which were connected to the first by imposing two-story buildings. A covered corridor still visible today connected the fortress with the margrave's palazzo. Centuries passed and the danger of insurrection subsided. In the course of time, the castle was expanded into a residence for the ducal court. It has been enlarged and embellished inside and out. Under Duke Ercole II, the fort got its current appearance after it was damaged by fire in 1544. The renovation was carried out by Girolamo da Carpi .

After the Estonians abandoned the castle, it served as the residence of the cardinal legates who administered the city and the surrounding area. Only a few renovations date from that era, such as the elevation of the northern entrance, which currently houses a café.

architecture

The fort has essentially retained the structure of the second half of the 16th century.

The castella's moat

It is surrounded by a moat and three foreships protect the entrances with drawbridges . The fourth entrance from the east was destroyed so that the kitchens could be built. At the bottom, the reconstruction retained the original structure of the medieval fortress, while at the top Girolamo da Carpi replaced the battlements with more elegant white marble balconies, and he raised the building by another story with a gable roof. The towers were balconies embellished. The inner courtyard was once completely painted, above in particular the portraits of members of the Este family could be seen: four surviving but barely visible portraits are under the loggia . The wells in the courtyard collect the rainwater. The round stars at the corners were ammunition for catapults .

inside rooms

ground floor

The tour begins on the ground floor, four rooms are covered with vaults . In the first room there are traces of a floral decoration on the walls. The image of Niccolo II, who commissioned the fort, hangs on the wall opposite the entrance. In the middle, a wooden model shows the original appearance of this fortress. In the three following rooms, numerous illustrations and text panels give visitors an overview of life at court. Portraits of Niccolò III hang on the walls . , Leonello and von Borso , the first duke of the dynasty.

Kitchens

The original entrance to the castle from the east was enlarged to accommodate the ducal kitchens. In the first long and narrow room, two loopholes are still visible, which speak for the old military function of the building. A large stove was built in the second and brightest room. A portrait of Cristoforo da Messisbugo, a cupbearer of the Estonians, hangs on one wall.

Bulge Hall

The hall got its name from the striking stone decoration at the bottom of the north wall. It is the bulge of the outer wall of the lion tower to which the fort was built. This room probably served as a guard room.

Dungeons

A dungeon is reached through a narrow corridor and a low door. In the 16th century, prisoners left some lettering and a round, chessboard-like drawing on the walls, in the fields of which, among other things, the message of an unhappy Marco who was deprived of his freedom can be read: “Io sono il sfortunato Marco […] privo de la libertà ”. Giulio d'Este was imprisoned here for a long time for instigating a conspiracy against his brother, Duke Alfonso I.

Cardinal Ippolito resented his brother Giulio. They both loved the same noble lady, Angela Borgia , a cousin of the Duchess Lucrezia Borgia. But she had a preference for Giulio and one day publicly claimed that Giulio's eyes were worth more than the entire figure of the cardinal. He ordered his servants to kill Giulio and to pull his eyes out. The order was never carried out, but Giulio was beaten so bloody that he lost an eye. He then began to instigate the death of his brother with the help of Ferrante, a third brother who wanted to eliminate Duke Alfonso in order to take his place. The conspiracy was easily spotted: Giulio and Ferrante were immediately imprisoned here. Ferrante died in this dungeon in 1506, Giulio lived here until 1559, when he was liberated at the age of eighty-one.

Door to the Parisina dungeon

A few meters below are the dungeons of Ugo (right) and Parisina (left), two young people who fell unhappily in love and thus became the protagonists of one of the most dramatic events in the history of the Este family.

Parisina Malatesta was the second wife of Margrave Niccolò III, who lived dissolute and was much older than her. After seven years of marriage, all in all quiet, it happened that Parisina fell in love with Ugo, a stepson of the margrave, whom he had from a relationship with the adored Stella de 'Tolomei . The two young people were caught, quickly sentenced and beheaded in 1425 after a brief but excruciating imprisonment in the dungeons of the castle. Parisina was 20 and Ugo 19 years old.

The so-called cannon ramp, over which cannons were once transported, leads to the upper floor, the living area of the ducal family.

The piano nobile

Loggia of the Duchesses

A small, modern staircase leads to a bright room in which traces of the original jewelry have been preserved. Text panels tell the story of the duchesses and their husbands.

The loggia and the orange garden

The walled roof terrace, known as the Orange Garden, was intended for the duchesses and their closest court, who had a wonderful view of the city center from here. Today, as then, there are large pots of orange plants on the terrace that used to be surrounded by other types of potted plants. The loggia served as a shady place for the noble guests in the warm season and as a greenhouse for the plants in winter.

Bacchanal room

This passage room was originally completely painted. On the right wall there is a three-part fresco with scenes from the life of Bacchus . It shows the triumph of Ariadne , the grape harvest and the triumph of Bacchus .

The ducal chapel

Frescoes in the chapel

According to tradition, the Duchess Renate of France is said to have commissioned the elegant geometric marble decorations on the walls. She was a follower of Calvinism , which did not allow figurative representations. This hypothesis is obvious at first glance, but is refuted by the ceiling frescoes depicting the four evangelists and the white eagle of the House of Este.

Dawn Hall

The hall known today as Sala dell'Aurora , formerly the private room of Ercoles II, was called the Hall of Mirrors in the 15th century. He thus became the namesake of the entire representation rooms of Alfonso II.

Sala dell'Aurora, Allegory of the Morning

The program of images in the ceiling fresco is an allegory of human life, illustrated by the rapid flow of time and the passage of hours over the course of a day. The vault is divided into sectors, each framed with garlands of fruit and a geometrically structured ornament strip. The four times of the day, which are grouped around the central image, are shown in four fields, an allegory of time.

The morning is symbolized by the winged goddess Aurora , who leads the sun chariot horses by the reins. The day follows, represented by the journey of the gleaming sun chariot, which Aurora hurries ahead with two torches in hand. In the evening or at sunset, the sun chariot turns towards the horizon. During the night Diana , with a moon disc on her forehead, reaches her lover Endymion . The cycle is completed by a picture in the middle of the vault with Saturn , the god of time, and the three Parzes .

Ludovico Settevecchi are attributed to The Day and The Evening , Bastianino The Time , The Night and The Morning . Leonardo da Brescia , another artist working at the Este court at the time, is credited with decorating the main cornice with an allegorical triumphal procession and the playful entourage of putti, as well as the festoons and the geometric ornamental ribbons. During the time of the Estonians, the room was covered with tapestries, through which the room first developed its representative theatrical effect.

Saletta dei Giochi

Frieze in the Saletta dei Giochi

The ceiling of this small game room is decorated in the middle with the dance of the four seasons and all around with images of “games” from ancient Rome; a bacchanal above the inner longitudinal wall ; on the other hand a boxing match in which the two opponents shake hands with so-called “cesti”, ie. H. connected with wickerwork. Gladiator fights can be seen above the two short walls, and childhood games in the style of ancient Rome in the lower area.

Lion tower

From the small game room you climb to the lion tower, from where you can admire a warm panorama of the city and see the main sights of Ferrara.

Saletta dei Veleni (Venom Hall)

It seems that the court pharmacologist once made medicines in this small room, or, as others say, poison, with which the political enemies were to be eliminated. The decorations date from the 20th century and represent the Italian nation surrounded by the symbols of the conquests of the fascist era.

Salone dei Giochi (game room)

This large room was intended for evening entertainment such as concerts and games. The ceiling is divided into eleven sections, in which, according to the taste of Duke Alfonso II . a sporting discipline is shown in each case. The quality of the frescoes varies: the more valuable ones facing the inner courtyard are by Bastianino and depict, from left to right, free wrestling, stone throwing and Greco-Roman wrestling. Bastianino also made swimming over one of the shorter walls next to the Greco-Roman wrestling.

A marble staircase leads to the part of the building above the north entrance, where the bookshop and café are located. From here you have a wonderful view of the main streets that meet at the foot of the castle.

Room of the tower of Saint Catherine

This room was once the first room in Ercole II's apartment, known as the “Appartamento della Pazienza” (patient apartment). The ceiling was painted in the Renaissance style during the 19th century; one can recognize the zodiac: the reproduction of a map of Ferrara from the 18th century attributed to Andrea Bolzoni is remarkable.

Anteroom of the gallery

Once it was in front of a long gallery that Ercole II had built after the example of the galleries in the residences of the sovereigns of that era. The Renaissance style ceiling shows some Estonian coats of arms. In the old print of the city, the Po, the cathedral , the court residence and in the background the towers of the fort are visible. You can also see the medieval city walls. At the top you can see more city walls that surround the new town. The picture shows Ferrara at the end of the 15th century, when the architect Biagio Rossetti commissioned Duke Ercole I to create the so-called Addizione Erculea, d. H. had planned the expansion of the city to the north: the new city wall had already been built and the old one was to be destroyed.

Hall of Hector and Andromache

Ercole II's gallery was shortened to build this space. In the 19th century, Cardinal Tommaso Benetti had the ceiling fitted with a scene from Homer's Iliad: Hector says goodbye to Andromache and his son. (Iliad, VI). The large panel shows the Este areas: Ferrara in the middle, Modena and Reggio on the left.

Gallery hall

Unfortunately, this vast space has completely lost its original decoration with views of the cities of the duchy. The panels show the surroundings of Ferrara and the so-called “Delizie”, a kind of pleasure palace. A large plaque hangs on the ceiling depicting the area around Ferrara in the Napoleonic era.

Drainage room

This room is dedicated to the drainage of the Ferrara area over the centuries.

Hall of the Tower of Saint Paul

Elegant room with classical grotesques, medallions and deities.

Anteroom

In this small room waited those who had asked the Duke for an audience. The vaulted ceiling is beautifully painted. The floor dates from the Este era.

Government hall

The room was commissioned by Ercole II (1534–1559) and was used to conduct government business. It still has a beautifully painted, partly gilded coffered ceiling, which is considered one of the most beautiful of its kind in Italy. Various mythological representations can be recognized in the cassettes: the cycle as a whole is to be interpreted as the glorification of the prince and his good government.

Cession room

The 19th century ceiling decoration represents the cession of the city of Ferrara in 1598; H. the return of the city from the Este family to the Papal States. The four images are to be viewed clockwise from the wall facing the administration room: in the first image, Lucrezia d'Este, envoy of the Duke of Ferrara, is talking to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini , a nephew of the Pope. In the second picture, Duke Cesare d'Este leaves the lost city with some dignitaries on horseback and goes to Modena, the new capital of his state. The third illustration shows Cardinal Aldobrandini arriving one day after the Duke's departure. In the last section you can see one of the many celebrations in honor of Pope Clement VIII , who came to seal the withdrawal of the city through his visit: in the moat, some women from Comacchio row in characteristic lagoon boats called “batanes”, to the bet.

Landscape paintings room

This room is named after a number of valuable landscapes that were created in the 18th century by an unknown painter (perhaps Giuseppe Zola).

Map room

On the walls you can see maps of the province of Ferrara, which were painted in the years 1709–1710. What is striking is the enormous expanse of the bodies of water and swamps, which have largely disappeared today due to the large-scale reclamation work of the 20th century.

The blue hall

The hall has a beautiful ceiling with ceiling roses and garlands from the 19th century.

Coats of arms room

In this hall there are decorations from two different phases of Ferrara under the Papal States. The older of the two decorations consists of a long series of shields with a tiara and Peter's keys: in one part are the coats of arms of the popes from Clement VIII (1592–1605) to Pius VI. (1775-1799) to recognize; the other signs are blank. Below was a decoration with coats of arms of the cardinals who ruled the city as papal legates and resided in the castle: some of these coats of arms can still be seen on the top of the walls. In the lower area, however, a decoration dominates, which was made on the occasion of the visit of Pope Pius IX. Was realized in 1857 and completely obscured the previous paintings. These are also coats of arms, as well as views of places of the then Legation area of Ferrara: the city of Ferrara (the castle), Comacchio (the Trepponti), Cento (the piazza), Lugo di Romagna (the arcades), the Pomposa Abbey as well as Bagnacavallo .

A spiral staircase leads back to the inner courtyard.

bibliography

Luciano Chiappini, Gli Estensi: Mille anni di storia , Corbo, Ferrara 2001.
Riccardo Rimondi, Estensi. Storia e leggende, personaggi e luoghi di una dinastia millenaria , Ferrara 2004
Marco Borella (a cura di), I Camerini del Principe , Edizioni Le Immagini, Ferrara 2006.
Jadranka Bentini, Marco Borella (a cura di), Il Castello Estense , BetaGamma Editrice, Viterbo 2002.
AA.VV., I Racconti del Castello , EDSAI, Ferrara 2006.