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Este Family in Modena, art and culture

Modena

Roman architect Bartolomeo Avanzini designed the Palazzo Ducale, whose construction began in 1634. The Palazzo housed the Este Court for more than two centuries and is today the headquarters of the Italian Military Academy. A majestic stairway climbs upward from the Honor Court to a loggia that leads to three “apartments”: the “Apartment of the Princes,” the “Private Apartment” (site of the Military Academy’s museum), and the “State Apartment,” which contains frescoes and portraits of the Este family. The most spectacular rooms are the vast, elegant Hall of Honor and the 18th-century Golden Salon, where it is believed Duke Francis IV signed the death sentence of Ciro Menotti, the leader of an unsuccessful 1831 rebellion against Austrian dominance.

BibliotecaEstense (Estense Library): The library’s holdings include printed books, incunabula,and a large assortment of illuminated manuscripts from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The centerpiece of the collection is the Bible that belonged to Borsod’Este, a 15th-century masterwork of illuminated miniature from the Ferrara school.

Galleria Estense (Estense Gallery). The Estense Gallery is among the most important Italian art collections and demonstrates the interest of the Este Dynasty not solely in painting and sculpture, but in archeology and traditional arts and crafts. Bernini’s marble bust of Francis I d’Este, a Velasquez portrait of Francis I,

Cosmè Tura’s Saint Anthony of Padua, Correggio’s Madonna and Christ Child, an El Greco triptych, and

a crucifix by Guido Reni are particularly noteworthy.

MuseiCivici (City Museums of Modena): The City Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology houses the earliest evidence of human occupation of the Modena area. Materials from the Neolithic, the Copper Age,

the Bronze Age, and the beginning of the Iron Age are accompanied by items attesting to Etruscan, Celt, and Gallic dominion over the city as well as from the era of Roman control. The ethnological collections include textiles, decorative objects, weapons, and ceramics from New Guinea, pre-Columbian Peru, South America, Africa, and Asia. The collections of the City Museum of Art include painting, ceramics, musical and scientific instruments, and weaponry that document the transformations the city has undergone between the Middle Ages and the modern era.

Archeology: On the ground floor of Palazzo deiMusei is the MuseoLapidarioEstense, a collection of sarcophagi, reliefs and inscribed stone slabs, from Roman times up to the Renaissance and the MuseoLapidario Romano with vestiges of ancient Mutina, founded in 183 B.C. including the altar of VetiliaEgloge. At the Novi Ark Archaeology Park visitors can walk along an ancient Roman road unearthed during the construction of the Novi Park underground car park. Just a few km from Modena you’ll find the Archaeological Park and Open-air Museum of Terramara di Montale Rangone (Bronze Age).

Ducal Palace of Sassuolo: Matilde di Canossa had the fortress constructed probably at the beginning of the 12th century. In 1458 the marquis BorsoD'Este had Pietro da Ronchegallo build a palace for the summer residence within the castle enclosure. 
In 1650 the architect Bartolomeo Avanzini performed the great work of transforming the castle into a princely summer residence for the duke Francesco I d'Este. After the death of Avanzini the works were directed by Antonio Loraghi, his student and new ducal architect. A garden was created behind the palace with statues, fish-ponds, fountains, swimming pools (ilFontanazzo) and water games, all designed by Avanzini. A vast park was preserved for hunting through which a 4km-long tree-lined avenue passes leading to Belvedere, the hunting lodge of San Michele. 
The façade of the palace recalls various elements of the Ducal Palace of Modena. The façade highlights the apotheosis of the D'Este house: five large wings, the family symbol, crown the building; a central frieze contains the aristocratic coat of arms; a further two eagles stand out on the lateral niches. On both sides of the door there are statues of Neptune and Galatea by ErcoleRaggi. 
The interior is richly decorated with works of Angelo Michele Colonna, Giovanni Boulanger and Pietro Galluzzi (17th century). 
Very interesting is the palace's courtyard of honour ennobled by the mural of fake architecture, the formal solution adopted by Mitelli and Colonna. 
The nearby church of S. Francesco was built by Bartolomeo Avanzini in 1653 upon wish of Francesco I d'Este as ducal chapel connected to the ducal palace by means of a suspended walkway. Inside one can see frescoes by Giovanni Boulanger and his collaborators Agostino Mitelli, Angelo Colonna, Giovanni Monti and Baldassarre Bianchi. A crucifix is preserved in the church - legend has it that it was a present to Marco Pio from a young Turkish girl during a crusade.

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