One of Ferrara's more famous exports is a book written 500 years ago called Orlando Furioso. It was written by Ludovico Ariosto for the Duc d'Este of Ferrara, and tells versions of several of the tales which in Britain we know as the legend of King Arthur. We are interested in Aristo because he was the governor of the Garfagnana for a few years - one of his jobs being to try to clean up the bandit problem at that time!
There is a special exhibition on Ariosto and his life and times in Ferrara this winter, so leaving D&D to their own devices for a while, B&B went to the former palace of the dukes of Este, the Palazzo Diamante (Diamond Palace) to see the show. It was a fascinating exhibition, with early editions of the book itself, and medieval artworks and paintings by Titian, Raphael - and Leonardo da Vinci - no expense spared.
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| Ludovico Ariosto, painted by Titian |
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| A very rare complete medieval jousting helmet |
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| Knights giving it laldie on the pages of an early edition of the book |
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| Barbara outside the Palazzo showing the reason for its name ... |
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| ... And, closer up, the diamonds are even more apparent |
molto interessante! first time I see this portrait of L. Ariosto. first time I hear about Palazzo Diamante. new reasons for going to Ferrara...pietro
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the portrait by Titian "was long supposed to be a portrait of Ariosto", but due to recent doubts, is now called "Man with a quilted sleeve"! And it wasn't even in the exhibition, but it is a lovely painting! Post-truth or what!
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