The Palazzo Paradiso is a Renaissance palace located on Via Scienze #17 in the medieval center of

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, region of

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, Italy. Adjacent to the historic Jewish

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

of Ferrara, it houses: *Anatomical Theater of Ferrara *Sala Ariosto—mausoleum of the writer Ludovico Ariosto * Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea—a historical library and archive of Ferrara

History

The palace was erected in 1391 by

Alberto V d'Este Alberto (V) d'Este (27 February 1347 – 30 July 1393) was lord of Ferrara and Modena from 1388 until his death. He was associated in the lordship of the House of Este by his brother Niccolò in 1361, becoming the sole ruler of Ferrara and ...

on the occasion of his marriage with Giovanna de Roberti. Like a number of other

Quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

palaces, such as the Schifanoia and the

Belfiore Belfiore is a comune s in the province of Verona, Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes ...

, the building was frescoed by

Antonio Alberti Antonio Alberti was an Italian painter, active mainly in the 15th century in his native city of Ferrara, as well as Bologna and Urbino. Biography He painted portraits and sacred subjects. For the sacristy of the church of San Bernardino, outside ...

, here depicting scenes of courtly life and romances. He also painted a large fresco, now destroyed, of

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

for the 1437–38 ecumenical council, during which the palace housed the emperor of Constantinople (

John VIII Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448) was the penultimate Byzantine emperor, ruling from 1425 to 1448. Biography John VIII was ...

) and

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

. Of the former three

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

s of the palace, only one remains. In the 15th century, the palace had only one floor. In 1567, the dukes converted the building to house university offices, and a second floor was added by

Giovanni Battista Aleotti Giovan Battista Aleotti (1546 – 12 December 1636) was an Italian architect. Biography Aleotti was born in Argenta, Italy, Argenta. For some years, Aleotti went to Ferrara, to work under Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso II d'Este where with ...

, who also relocated the facade to the via delle Scienze, where the portal was surmounted by a small clock tower, designed (1610) by Alessandro Balbi and Aleotti.

Anatomical Theater

Ferrara, palazzo paradiso, teatro anatomico 01

In 1731, the anatomist Giacinto Agnelli and the architect Francesco Mazzarelli constructed the still existing

anatomical theatre An anatomical theatre (Latin: ) was a specialised building or room, resembling a theatre, used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities. They were typically constructed with a tiered structure surrounding a central table, allowing a lar ...

. The shape echoes elements of the theaters in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

(1594) and the

Archiginnasio The Archiginnasio of Bologna is one of the most important buildings in the city of Bologna; once the main building of the University of Bologna, it currently houses the Archiginnasio Municipal Library and the Anatomical Theatre. In the heart of ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

(1636). The room is octagonal and illuminated by four large windows. Separate entrances allow for the entry of students, teachers, and cadavers. In 1831, the medical faculty moved to the Arcispedale Santa Anna, and the theater was relegated to chemistry lessons.

Sala Ariosto

In 1801, the relics of

Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...

were moved from the then-deconsecrated church of San Benedetto to a refurbished mausoleum within the palace, commissioned by a grandson of the poet and designed by Aleotti, which is now called the Sala Ariosto. The grand staircase in the building was designed by Foschini. The ceiling of the Sala Ariosto is frescoed, and in the cornice medallions depict the founders of the library. On a niche with polychrome marble rise four columns and an alabaster bust of the poet. Surmounted by garlands of fruit, the monument is flanked by statues of Poetry and Fame.

Biblioteca Ariostea

The library, founded in 1750 and refurbished in 1801, according to a plaque in the reading room, is dedicated to manuscripts and publications related to local writers such as Ariosto,

Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...

, Monti, Govoni, Caretti, and Quilici. The collection has nearly 400,000 objects. The restored reading room is now dedicated to the bibliophile Giovanni Maria Riminaldi.Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea
official site.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paradisi Ferarra Buildings and structures completed in 1591 Houses completed in the 14th century Houses completed in the 17th century paradisi Renaissance architecture in Ferrara Baroque architecture in Ferrara Neoclassical architecture in Emilia-Romagna Museums in Ferrara