Castello della Manta is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

at Manta near

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

Province of Cuneo The province of Cuneo (; ) is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west, it borders the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes), to the north the ...

, region of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The original building, dating from the 12th century, was later enlarged and transformed into a noble residence by the Saluzzo della Manta family, margraves of

Description

Among the numerous rooms, the Baronial Hall (''Salone Baronale'') is notable for the fresco cycle decorating its walls, a rare masterpiece of Late Gothic painting in northern Italy. The work is attributed to the

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

Master of Castello della Manta. The cycle, completed soon after 1420, portrays the ''Nove Prodi'', the

Nine Worthies The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly ...

with their Nine Female Heroines. The artist may have used as models members of the House of the Margraves of Saluzzo. The figures are shown wearing precious contemporary clothing. Also depicted is the so-called Fountain of Youth, a theme taken from the tradition of French medieval stories. The scene is inspired by the poem by Marquess Thomas III of Saluzzo, '' Le Chevalier Errant''). The ''Sala delle Grottesche'' was decorated in the

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

style of the 16th century, and was commissioned by Count Michele Antonio della Manta around 1560. It has a finely painted ceiling, decorated with stuccoes,

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

s, ancient ruins and buildings. Annexed to the castle is the church, whose apse has a series of frescoes about the life of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

dating from the same time as the Baronial Hall decorations.

Gallery

File:CastelloDellaMantaNineWorthies.jpg, ''I Nove Prodi'', the

. Fresco by the ''Maestro del Castello della Manta'', c.1420. The series continues to the right with depictions of their female counterparts File:MaestroManta ProdiEroine Manta.jpg, Detail of the fresco showing 4 of the female counterparts to the Nine Worthies

External links

Manta castle at Fondo per l'Ambiente

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in the Province of Cuneo Manta Gothic art Fondo Ambiente Italiano Museums in Piedmont Historic house museums in Italy Marquisate of Saluzzo

History

Description

Gallery

See also

External links