Mantua, Ducal Palace, The Pisanello Hall:
"The Tournament of Knights"

The Tournament of Knights" by Pisanello (Southeast Wall) is a fresco with a chivalric subject painted  between 1430 and 1433 in the Old Court wing of the Ducal Palace of Mantua. The frescoes, almost certainly commissioned by Gian Francesco Gonzaga with a clearly self-celebratory intent, are inspired by the cycle of five novels dedicated to the deeds of the Knights of the Round Table at the court of King Arthur. The cycle was written by the poet and writer Chrétien de Troyes during the first half of the 12th century. The cycle brings together various legends born in the land of Brittany, which were enriched over time with episodes and characters. Among these, the figure of Lancelot du lac stands out. The frescoe represents an episode of the Arthurian cycle, which features Bohort, Lancelot's cousin, as the protagonist. It describes the culminating moment of the tournament organized by King Brangoire, who has gathered one hundred knights at his court, the most valiant of whom will marry his daughter. The depiction of this first wall, frescoed with a great richness of colours and precious details such as the golden harnesses of the horses, extends in all directions in an apparent chaos,. This allows us to immerse immediately  in the atmosphere of the tournament. The tournament unfolds throughout the hall and the frescoed walls should be read starting from this scene and in an anticlockwise direction.