• Art & Culture
    • Lifestyle

Palazzo d'Arco in Mantua

Everyday life of a noble family in the 18th and 19th Century

The imposing facade of the neoclassical 18th century residence of the Counts D’Arco is overlooking a large cobbled square.

Beyond the entrance hall, past the semicircular exedra, you glimpse the coloured and scented garden with flowers and plants, fruit trees and aromatic herbs. Climbing the monumental marble staircase, you arrive to the noble floor, where the furnished rooms reveal the lifestyle, the elegance, the flair and the passions of the noble family D’Arco, extinguished only half a century ago, that could boast an history of nine hundreds years.

From the great Ancestors’ Hall, you go on into the private apartments of the landlord and the landlady, where the chandeliers and the Murano glass lamps give light to the reception rooms for the guests to whom tea, coffee or chocolate were offered in precious Meissen porcelain cups and silver services.

You will also visit private little studies, a dressing room, an English Victorian style smoking room for gentlemen only, where they smoke cigars and speak about politics. Your eyes will be attracted by inlaid furniture, chests of drawers, tables set with ancient porcelain or ceramic services.

The heritage is so rich and varied thanks to the last countess Giovanna, who died in 1973, and generously gave such wealth to her beloved Mantova and to the visitors of the  only museum-house of the city. Cultivated and intelectuals, the Counts D’Arco collected a valuable art gallery with paintings by Lorenzo Lotto, Bernardino Luini, Sodoma, Grechetto, Antoon van Dyck. The remarkable library has manuscripts and incunabula, cinquecentine and ancient books available to anyone who wants to consult them.

You cannot miss the kitchen, whose walls are covered with copper moulds of different and unusual shapes used to cook puddings, jellies and pies; copper jugs, bowls, lemon squeezers, coffee pots, big pans are exhibited together with all was needed to please the palate of the refined lords.

The surprises are not finished: in the garden two ancient little buildings give hospitality to a naturalistic collection and to an amazing room frescoed by the painter Giovanni Maria Falconetto in 1520. Under big painted arches the twelve signes of the zodiac are told through myths, heroes of the past, ancient monuments to appreciate the step back in time at its best.

-

Ph cover: Federica Bottoli

Text and images in gallery by MARTA PETRUZZELLA, ConfGuide Mantova 

CLICK HERE to discover her other itinerary proposals.

Take me here: Palazzo d'Arco in Mantua

On the same topic

Monuments Milan

Milan is rich in historical and artistic monuments of the highest value that bear witness to the history of the Lombard capital
  • Art & Culture
Monuments Milan, suggestions for visiting

Theatre: what’s on stage in Lombardy 

In Lombardy, theatres are opening up safely: here are some of the must-see shows and festivals
  • Art & Culture
Teatro: chi è di scena in Lombardia

Monuments in Lombardy

Cultural tourism and monuments in Lombardy
  • Art & Culture
Monuments in Lombardy, suggestions

Monuments Mantua

The Gonzagas have made Mantua a jewel of the Italian Renaissance visible in its palaces, monuments, churches, culture and traditions
  • Art & Culture
Monuments Mantua, ideas for visiting

Varese UNESCO

4 siti UNESCO, indissolubilmente legati al paesaggio: Monte San Giorgio, Isolino Virginia, Monastero di Torba, Sacro Monte di Varese.
  • Art & Culture
Quinta cappella al Sacro Monte di Varese

12 masterpieces in Lombardy

Among paintings, Monasteries, Basilicas: a treasure to be discovered in Lombardy
  • Art & Culture
Hunting for 12 masterpieces in Lombardy

Bergamo Photo Gallery

An area to be discovered and visited
  • Art & Culture
Discovering Bergamo from A to Z

In the footsteps of the Promessi Sposi

An unusual itinerary to relive the places, moods and atmospheres of Manzoni's novel, symbol of national identity
  • Art & Culture
Sulle tracce dei Promessi Sposi - Lecco

Gentileschi: Rest on the Flight into Egypt

  • Art & Culture
Gentileschi: Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Monuments Pavia

Ancient squares, historic houses, statues, religious buildings, museums ... in Pavia and its province
  • Art & Culture
Monument Pavia, what to see

Visiting the Castle in the night

  • Art & Culture
Visiting the Castle in the night

The Longobard heritage of Pavia

A journey of discovery to uncover the ancient civilisation of the Longobards through the history of the city of Pavia.
  • Art & Culture
The Longobard heritage of Pavia

Museums Bergamo

Bergamo is a city that wants to be discovered: rich in art and culture counts among its excellences important museums
  • Art & Culture
Museums Bergamo, field guide in Lombardy

Visit Villa Reale di Monza

A real journey through history from the Habsburgs to the Savoy.
  • Art & Culture
Camera

6 Interactive museums for children

Explore Lombardy with your children! Experiential and interactive museums to stimulate curiosity and creativity.
  • Art & Culture
6 Interactive museums for children

Visit the interactive exhibit Leonardo3. The World of Leonardo

Discover the works of Leonardo Da Vinci as you've never seen before
  • Art & Culture
Leonardo3. Il Mondo di Leonardo

Bergamo in a weekend

A perfect square, the masterpieces of the Carrara Academy, the Venetian Walls Unesco World Heritage Site. Discover Bergamo!
  • Art & Culture
Bergamo in a weekend

Castles Sondrio

In the mountains between castles and strongholds that challenge the peaks of the Valtellina
  • Art & Culture
Castles Sondrio

Mantua, Festival City

Mantua is a living city 365 days a year. Thanks to international festivals. Starting from the prestigious Festivaletteratura
  • Art & Culture
Mantua, Festival City

16th Olympic Games of Violin-making

4 settembre - 10 ottobre 2021
  • Art & Culture
16th Olympic Games of Violin-making