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| Soragna: the Noble and the Court |
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Giampalolo
I Meli Lupi (1508 - 1543).
Born in 1508 to Giambattista Meli, from a noble family from
the Cremona region, and to Ippolita Ponzoni, he was singled-out
early on by his great-uncle Diofebo, last direct branch of the
Lupi Marquises of Soragna, as the possible continuation of the
family. On the death of the marquis, Giampaolo inherited the
feud of Soragna. The succession was opposed by other claimants
in the family, but the dispute was concluded in 1536, with the
confirmation of Giampaolo by the Emperor Carlo V . In order
to reinforce his position in the precarious political balance
of the times, Giampaolo Meli Lupi "a man who was wise,
virtuous and supporter of virtuous peoples, and also a patron
of the arts", promoted important changes in the village
of Soragna and to the fortress itself. He commissioned the construction
of the walls of the village and transformed the fourteenth century
fortress into a Renaissance palace, providing it with an ample
garden and calling in the painter Nicolò dell'Abate to
decorate the interior, being one of the masters of Mannerism
during the same period as Parmigianino.
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