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| Fontanellato: the Noble and the Court |
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Paola
Gonzaga, first-born daughter of the marquis of Sabbioneta
Gian Ludovico Gonzaga and of Francesca Fieschi, following a
first marriage with the Marquis Gian Francesco Pallavicino of
Zibello, entered the Sanvitale house in 1516 marrying Gian Galeazzo,
lord of the feud of Fontanellato from 1519 to 1550.
The marriage to a member of the Gonzaga family, and therefore
the relationship with the dukes of Mantova, reinforced the political
strategy of Gian Galeazzo Sanvitale, who with the support of
the King of France took aim for the acquisition of power on
the part of the Parma county. The figure of Paola, almost ignored
by the biographies and chronicles of the times, obscured by
the initiative and notoriety of her sister-in-law Jacoba Laura,
with whom she shared residence at the Fortress of Fontanellato,
had a determining role in the artistic choices of the Sanvitale
court.
With the intervention of Paola, the Fortress of Fontanellato
became a residential palace, centre of a humanistic coterie,
in which the hall of Parmigianino is the sole surviving testimonial
of an appartment reserved for the Countess. The cultural education
of Paola returned to the courtly context, where the theme of
chastity, exemplified in the mythological fable of Diana and
Acteon, appears as a significant nucleus tinged with the pleasing
courtly ideology of the Padana area, a cultural and ethical
choice which was common also amongst the other exponents of
the Mantova lineage (Giulia Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este).
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