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| Fontanellato: art and history |
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Of
Longobard origins, in the XII century the first fortification
built by the Pallavicino family came about here, but the development
of Fontanellato is owed to the Sanvitale family, invested by
the feud in1404, which commissioned the reconstruction of the
Fortress and fortified the vill age.Fontanellato was a fortress
of the city of Parma against the assaults of the nobles from
the plains- the Rossi, Pallavicino and Lupi families. It defended
the Via Emilia and the road which from there follows the river
Taro upstream as far as the feud of the Landi of Bardi and Borgotaro.The
Fortress of the Sanvitale, still intact today, dominates
the centre of the town and is surrounded by the monuments to
civil and religious life: looking onto the ring-shaped square
which encompasses the fortress are the parish church, which
Giberto Sanvitale ordered to be built in 1447, and the eighteenth
century oratory of Santa Maria Assunta.The fortress, protected
by a moat, is of a square design and is formed by four building
bodies around an internal courtyard; three corners have round
towers, of which two are of a truncated cone shape; the fourth
corner has a square-shaped tower.Following the Gand treaty of
1556, the fortress lost its military use and was gradually modified
to adapt its rooms to suit the function of residence for the
Sanvitale family.Access to the tower containing the Optic Chamber
is through the hanging garden; from here it is possible to view
the square and the entrance to the castle.The first floor contains
the stately appartments of the Sanvitale family, with furniture
and furnishings of the XVI - XVIII centuries, and today has
been transformed into a museum.The real jewel in the crown of
the fortress is the Hall of Diana and Acteon, on the
ground floor, frescoed in 1524 by Francesco Mazzola, known as
Parmigianino (1503-1540), for Paola Gonzaga and Galeazzo Sanvitale.
The mythological tale frescoed by Parmigianino, taken from the
III book of the "Metamorphosis" of Ovid, unfolds along
the top part of the four walls in thirteen lunettes, and narrates
the tale of Acteon transformed into a deer by Diana, surprised
whilst bathing with the nymphs, and torn apart by his own dogs.
The vault contains a pergola, in which the greenery, mignonettes
and putti sustain festoons of fruit. On the same wall on which
the only window of the room is opened is a portrait of Paola
Gonzaga.
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