Mantua, Ducal Palace, Gallery of the Months:
the Third Vault from the East

The third sector of the vault (starting from the eastern extremity) is part of the original vault of the Giulio Romano’s loggia. In the central round four foreshortened winged cherubs dance holding hands; the lunette towards the north shows a putto astride another in a playful attitude. In 2013 Koering noted how the first figure is characterized by a tuft of hair inspired by the well-known iconographic attribute of Kairos (right or opportune moment), with a probable allusion to the fleeting nature of time and the need to seize life's opportunities. In the opposite lunette, a putto carries a playmate on his shoulders. The stucco relief towards the north shows a Roman general or emperor in the act of placing some conical-shaped headdresses on men kneeling before him, while the relief towards the south depicts a soldier among trophies of arms. A Victory, two seated prisoners and a banner also appear on the scene. The iconographic choice based on dancing and musical cherubs in the circles of the Giulio vault refers to the precedent of the rib vaults of Psyche's room in Palazzo Te. Koering also proposes to read an allusion to human passions in the putti of the lunettes; in the cherubs at the centre of the sectors a symbol of elevation of the soul over the body, in a decorative context that stages the continuous dialectic between the two poles, in the passage of time of nature and men. The tondo with dancing putti has been attributed to Rinaldo Mantovano.