Madonna della Vittoria Via Fernelli, Mantua

Amici di Palazzo Te e dei Musei Mantovani

The Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria was built in 1495 by marchese Francesco Gonzaga. It was constructed to celebrate his victory over Charles VIII of France at the battle of Fornovo, where he commanded the Venetian League. It was consecrated the following year. The design was by Bernardino Ghisolfo, at the time responsible for the buildings of the Gonzaga family.

The simple late Gothic façade overlooks the small piazza of san Simone. On the visible sides of the building, a terracotta frieze runs around below the cornice. The interior decoration is Renaissance and definitely related to . A close relationship between the ideas of Mantegna, with his taste for antiquity and Roman marbles, is to be found in the illusionistic effect of the paintings that characterise the whole of the nave. The wall opposite the entrance still reveals part of the refined imitation Cordovan leather hanging on top of which Mantegna’s Madonna of the Victory altarpiece originally hung. The altarpiece, commissioned by Francesco II, was begun in 1495 and completed in 1496, like the Church where it was to be exhibited. The triumphal composition is set in a luxuriant pergola of brightly coloured flowers, fruit, birds and precious stones. The Madonna enthroned with the Child Jesus is depicted as she blesses kneeling warrior Francesco II, who is asking for her protection. Around them are the sacred figures of saints , George, Andrew and Longinus, with Elizabeth and the young at the feet of the Virgin. The creation of man, the original sin and the expulsion from earthly paradise are all represented on the marble base of the throne. This splendid, large altarpiece, tempera on canvas (cm. 280x166), requisitioned by the French in 1797, is currently in the .

Thanks to the sixth sense of Ugo Bazzotti, head of the Museo Civico del Palazzo Te, frescoes of saints have been found in the 12 pendentives of the vault. Restoration work carried out by Augusto Morari and his studio has revealed a garland framing an oculus through which appear busts of saints (indicated by a halo) or canonized figures (characterized by a golden set of rays). The artists of these figures are to be sought – in Bazzotti’s view - in the Veronese area. Domenico Morone (1442 – 1517) and his son Francesco (1471 – 1529) seem likely candidates. The exceptional discovery in the vaults cannot be seen from the aisle of the church as a 19th century ceiling divides the lower space from the upper. There is a debate in progress as to whether to remove the ceiling, which currently acts as the floor of a nursery school (Strozzi Valenti Gonzaga), there since 1899.

Virtual reconstruction by Guido Bazzotti, Mantova

After various different uses, the lower floor was employed between 1942 and 1986 as a car repair shop and then as the Staboli chromium and nickel plating workshop. In 2001 the church was given in concession by the Municipality to the Associazione Amici di Palazzo Te e dei Musei Mantovani, who took on the responsibility of restoring the building. Aided by numerous sponsors and the Ministry for Fine Arts, the building was inaugurated in September 2006 after many years of restoration work. Since then it has been open to the public and besides being a museum in itself, it is used for conferences, conventions, concerts and temporary exhibitions.

ASSOCIAZIONE AMICI DI PALAZZO TE e DEI MUSEI MANTOVANI Associazione di volontariato culturale aderente alla FIDAM Viale Te 13, 46100 Mantova, Italia, tel. 338 82 84 909 - e. mail [email protected]