Mantua, Ducal Palace, Gallery of the Months:
the Sixth Vault

The sixth section of the vault, located at the western end, features a central tondo with the image of four foreshortened putti: each grasps a stick-like object held by the next person, forming a circle. The north lunette features frescoes of two acrobatic putti, walking on their hands, while the south lunette, also featuring a pair of putti but severely damaged, obscures the subject. The stucco relief to the north seems to re-enact the story of Mucius Scaevola, already depicted in the second section of the Julian section of the vault, while the relief to the south shows three groups of soldiers clashing, armed with short swords and small shields (the same attributes held by the putti in the central tondo of the previous section). The two stuccoes, like those visible in the sections of the section added to the original loggia, are distinguished from the Julian reliefs by their particularly slender and elongated figures.