Trascrizione
The room takes its name from the Gonzaga coats of arms, which are no longer visible but were originally depicted in the wall lunettes, a decoration designed by Giulio Romano on the occasion of Duke Federico II’s marriage to Margherita Paleologa in 1531. The name Camera delle Armi translates as the “coats of arms room” because heraldic crests were often depicted directly on the shields and flags of nobles and knights, identifying the original family, their noble status, their role, and the rank of an individual. The crest in the centre of the ceiling refers to Francesco III – son of Federico II and Margaret – and his wife, Catherine of Austria, who commissioned the renovation of the room in about 1549.
There is a monumental tapestry on display here, also made to a design by Giulio Romano at the behest of Duke Federico II. The subject was inspired by a classic source, Philostratus’ Imagines, and shows a satyr spying in a nymph, surrounded by winged cherubs playing, arguing, joking, in flourishing greenery.
The work is the first of a series of tapestries made by Flemish weaver Nicolas Karcher, whose theme is dedicated to cherubs, known as puttini. The allusion is to the prosperity brought to the city of Mantua by the Gonzaga family’s rule. At the centre of the two horizontal borders, we see devices that are the symbolic portrayals of the intent, the moral values chosen by the marquis as the guiding principles of his reign. The two seen here are a salamander – denoting love and perhaps Duke Federico II’s best-known icon – and Mount Olympus, an image of political loyalty.