Mantua, Ducal Palace, Gallery of the Months:
the Second Northern Span

At the centre of the span, which corresponds to the central one of the original Giulio Romano’s loggia, is the access door to the Hall of Troy. The upper lunette houses a circular niche in partially gilded stucco with a background decorated with a motif of trefoil leaves (oak?), intended to house a bust. Two painted Victories, the first of which is offering a helmet and the second a laurel wreath, occupy the lateral spaces of the lunette. In the segments between the arch and the pilasters there are two stucco reliefs depicting winged male figures, with a senile appearance, among branches of dry trees (November and December). The door, framed by a band painted with vegetal spirals on a white background, is flanked by two bands containing thin festoons, which are also painted on a white background. Above the door there is a rectangular space which is now empty and testifies to the original placement of a stone relief. The space between the door and the pilasters is further enriched by two lateral bands painted in imitation of porphyry and the base of the wall continues the fake marble decoration of the pilaster pedestals. The relief of the north wall of the Giulio Romano’s loggia created by Andreasi (ca. 1567) allows us to trace the ancient marbles placed here: a bust of Giulia di Tito in the circular niche of the lunette and two busts of emperors in correspondence with the lateral pilasters which have been lost; above the door, the front of the sarcophagus with  an Amazonomachy, a relief still preserved in the adjacent Hall of Troy.