FERRARA

Cue (NZERS), Issue 22, 30 April 1945, Page 24

FERRARA

—i By

’ FERRARA, although it lies in the 1 rich and thriving valley of the Po is none of your busy modern metropolises. Like Siena and Perugia, its great days are past and it i shrunk somewhat within the mediaeval walls that still partly encircle it it is somewhat compensated for its lacK of progress by the romantic charm that age gives to all such towns. There still lingers in its streets and squares some sense of that vanished age when the rich and powerful family of d’Este collected round it one of the most brilliant courts in Italy; when poets, painters, sculptors, and actors flocked there to amuse the nobles and to adorn the buildings that it was the joy of every Renaissance prince to raise.

The town, which boasts few industries, and those of little moment, centres round the square brick castle of the d’Estes. This castle, illustrated below, was built some time after 1385, but the curious and slightly incongruous pavilions that rise above the battlements of the four towers were not added till the middle of the 16th century. Surrounded by a moat in true mediaeval style, it is probably the best-preserved of the old feudal castles to be found in the country. This castle was the centre of the artistic life of the town, and its splendid salons speak of the magnificence of a Renaissance court. But it has grim dungeons as well. In one of them, whose narrow window is seven times barred with iron, Nicholas 111 put to death his wife Parisina and her lover, his own natural son.

Not far from the castle is the Hospital of 'St. Anna, where the celebrated poet, Tasso, was cared for during his fits of madness between 1579 and 1586.

There are many fine early Renaissance palaces often with good terracotta decoration*. They are a distinct

feature of the town, which is exceptionally rich in buildings of this nature. Perhaps the best is the Palazzo de’ Diamanti, easily recognised by its facing stones, cut in facets like a diamond. Another is the Palazzo iSchifanoia, the walls of whose rooms are elaborately painted with charming .allegorical frescoes, delightful examples of 15th century decoration.

The Palazzo de’ Diamanti houses in normal times, the Municipal Art Gallery. Probably the pictures are now dispersed or hidden. They include many examples of the Fcrrarese School whose greatest master was Dosso Dossi, while Lorenzo Costa is another well-known name. Both flourished in the early 16th century.

The Palazzo Municipio, rebuilt in the 18th century, was the home of the d’Estes before they built the castle, and retains traced of its early form. Nearby stands the Cathedral, one o those queer but pleasant architectural salads so common in Italy. It is described as Lombard-Romanesque ot the 12th century and was consecrated in 1135. At this time the lower part of the facade and the side facades were complete, but as may be seen ip the illustration at the head of this article, the architect who completed the upper part of the facade in 13th century used pointed arc e , which gives this part a distinct

Pothic effect. The sculptures are even Hter, of the 14th and 15th centuries, In spite of the mixture there is nothin o- actually incongruous. The interior, just for further variety, is baroque, having been restored in 1712, and the Campanile, built in 1451, is Renaissance, so that the architecturallyminded can study the whole progress of the art almost without moving from the one spot.

There are, of course, many churches, of which the Church of Corpus Domini is worth a visit, for it contains the tomb of the notorious Lucrczia Borgia, who. after a, colourful and crimestained youth, settled down here to a respectable maturity as the wife of Duke Alfonso I, and became the centre of a brilliant circle, while also managing to bear eight children. She died in child-birth in 1519, barely escaping the odour of sanctity, and lies here beside her husband.

One of Ferrara's most treasured conui'ctioius is with the poet Ariosto, author of Orlando Furioso, who came under the patronage of Duke Alfonso in 1518. Although the town basks in the memory the careful Duke was singularly ungenerous to the poet, whom he used on diplomatic missions, but paid very badly. The house where

Ariosto lived, Via Ariosto 67. is now owned by the town and kept as a literary museum. His statue stands on a pedestal intended for Duke Hercules, thus proving once again that thepen is mightier than the sword. The early history of Ferrara is cloaked in mist, but in 753 it was well established as a city in the Exarchate of Ravenna. About 1100, having established its independence of feudal control, it came under the domination of several of its own more powerful families. The Adelardi, who built the Cathedral, were the most prominent, and in 1146 their property passed, through the marriage of the heiress,, to Azzolino d’Este. Azzolino’s dose* ndants, now very rich, managed to establish a tyranny over the town, and in 1452 Borso was created a Duke by the Emperor Frederick 111 in one of the, periodical Imperial distributions of honours. In the same year Ferrara saw the birth of the future tire-brand Girolamo Savonarola, who ended hispreaching career at the stake, in Florence. The Piazza Savonarola lies on the south side of the castle. The d’Estes became one of the great ruling Imuses of Italy, and carried on vigorous struggles with Venice, the Pope and various surrounding communes after the fashion of the time.

. As so often happens, Ferrara reach* its highest point just before its complete eclipse. Alfonso' 11, w ll o succeeded to the throne in 1559, married the sister of the Emperor himself, and his Court, where Tasso and Guarini shone, was famous far and ■wide. But he left no male heir and the Pope, ever watchful to increase his ■estates, declared Ferrara a vacant het, seized it and added it to the Papal States. This ensured its rapid decline, for the Papal States were a byword for misgovernment right up to the time of their absorption into the . general body of the Italian State in 1859. Since then the life of the town has

somewhat revived, but it has still not managed to recapture either a population or a position even remotely comparable to that which it held under the d’Estes.

How many of the buildings mentioned will be left, when the war has passed on, it is at the moment of writing impossible to say. It is to be hoped that this pleasant, quiet, little town will not be too much shattered, for. though it contains no treasures of major importance, it is part of Italy's artistic heritage, and is a good example, almost unspoiled, of the towns of the hey-dey of the Renais-

sauce.