Teatro Sociale (Social Theater) is the largest historical theater of Mantua, located in the center of the city, in Piazza Felice Cavallotti. SHORT HISTORY At the end of the Napoleonic period, there were two theaters in Mantua: Teatro Regio, built in 1783 by Giuseppe Giorgio Pietro Baldassarre Piermarini, and the Scientific Theater (Teatro Scientifico), built by Antonio Bibiena in 1769. Both theaters were located outside the city center, and the need for a new theater centrally located appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. On January 12, 1817, a special commission of notable citizens was formed to find a designer for the new theater. The commission chose not to risk it and turned to the well-known designer Luigi Canonica, former royal architect and the author of notable projects such as the enlargement of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the new hall of Teatro Grande in Brescia and the rebuilding of Teatro della Concordia in Cremona. On June 24, 1818, the first stone was laid in the presence of Count Ferdinando Arrivabene, the Marquis Francesco Zanetti, Luigi Preti and the architect Giovanni Battista Marconi, in charge of supervising the works. Teatro Sociale was completed in 1822 and opened on Read more [...]
Tag: Neoclassical in Mantua
Palazzo D’Arco
Palazzo D’Arco is a Neoclassical palace in Mantua, located in Piazza Carlo D’Arco. Today, the palace houses the Museum of Palazzo d’Arco, which displays the art collected over time by the D’Arco family. SHORT HISTORY The D’Arco family settled permanently in Mantua in 1740, and by the marriage of Francesco Alberto d’Arco with one of the Chieppo family’s heirs, they acquired the residence of the latter. In 1784, Count Giovanni Battista Gherardo d’Arco commissioned the architect Antonio Colonna to rebuild the facade of the residence in Neoclassical style. The result was a remarkable example of an aristocratic palace rich in furnishings and paintings, with a library, a naturalistic collection and a beautiful garden enclosed by an exedra. In 1872, Francesco Antonio d’Arco bought from the Dalla Valle family two Renaissance buildings in the immediate vicinity of the palace, and incorporated them into the complex. The stables were built on the left side of the palace, a construction which later was transformed into the Teatrino d’Arco, seat of the Francesco Campogalliani Theater Academy since 1946. The last exponent of the family, who died in 1973, Giovanna dei Conti d’Arco Chieppio Ardizzoni, Marquise Guidi di Bagno, established the Arco Foundation, and Read more [...]
