Quite often, during my guided tours in Mantua, I describe the Italian Renaissance as a real "Game of Thrones": powerful families, ruling different lands, quite often fighting each other. The Houses Stark, Targaryen, Lannister, Baratheon, Tyrell and so on, are not so different from the Gonzaga, Este, Sforza, Medici, Borgia and many of the other Renaissance dynasties.
"The most beautiful chamber in the world". These words were used by Zaccaria Saggi, a Renaissance courtier, to describe the chamber frescoed by Andrea Mantegna in the Mantua Castle, known today as "The Bridal Chamber", or, in Italian, "Camera degli Sposi".
Once in the collection of the Gonzagas, Lords of Mantua, the "Ptolemaic Cameo", is today to be found at the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Wien. This stunning carved stone, dating back to 270 BC, shows the portraits of the Greek rulers of Egypt Ptolemy Philadelphus and his sister and wife, Arsinoe. [...]
