Mantua, Ducal Palace, Gallery of the Months:
the Fifth Southern Span

This fifth span also belongs to the extension of the original loggia in the gallery and is therefore entirely the result of the decorative phase of the late sixteenth - early seventeenth century. It repeats the scheme of the first three spans of the south wall, of which it imitates in detail the parts of Giulio Romano’s decoration. Here there is a circular niche in golden stucco designed as a background for a bust (today it houses a recently placed plaster head). It is flanked by two painted Victories, with attributes. On the outside, the segments between the arch and the pilasters house two high reliefs in stucco depicting winged youths who hold medallions with zodiac symbols: the first Sagittarius, the second Capricorn. The splay of the window has a fake marble decoration, varied at the two lower ends by the insertion of two monochrome figurines on a dark background. In the splay we recognise Temperance and Prudence; in the four external panels two cupids with attributes, a nereid with her child and a centaur with a child.