300px, Castello della Manta. CastelloDellaMantaNineWorthies

frame, Detail of the fresco showing 4 of the female counterparts to the Nine Worthies Castello della Manta is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta'' Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications * Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Br ...

near

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) 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 fo ...

Province of Cuneo Cuneo (Italian), or Coni (Piedmontese), is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Haut ...

, region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. 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

. Among the numerous rooms, the Baronial Hall (''Salone Baronale'') is notable for the fresco cycle decorating its walls, a rare masterpiece of Late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

painting in northern Italy. The work is attributed to the anonymous 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 Thomas III of Saluzzo ( it, Tommaso III di Saluzzo) (1356–1416) was Marquess of Saluzzo from 1396 until his death. He was born in Saluzzo in north-western Italy to Frederick II del Vasto and Beatrice of Geneva. His maternal grandfather was Hug ...

, '' Le Chevalier Errant''). The ''Sala delle Grottesche'' was decorated in the

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, 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, ...

style of the 16th century, and was commissioned by Count

Michele Antonio della Manta Michele (), is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and identicall ...

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, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

dating from the same time as the Baronial Hall decorations.

External links

Manta castle at Fondo per l'Ambiente

{{coord, 44, 36, 52, N, 07, 28, 58, E, type:landmark_region:IT-CN_source:dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in the Province of Cuneo

Gothic art Fondo Ambiente Italiano Museums in Piedmont Historic house museums in Italy Marquisate of Saluzzo

See also

External links