In Mantua, a great 16th-century engraver, Giovanni Battista Scultori, on display for the first time

An exhibition dedicated to an important sixteenth-century engraver, Giovanni Battista Scultori (Mantua, 1503 - 1575): this is the one that from April 20 to July 21, 2024 is welcomed in the rooms of the Ducal Palace in Mantua. The exhibition Giovan Battista Scultori. Intaggliator di stampe e scultore eccellente, curated by Stefano L’Occaso and hosted in the Camera di Bacco and the Stanza delle Due Colonne in the Palazzina della Rustica, designed by Giulio Romano, Scultori’s mentor, presents a nucleus of works including twenty-five prints, three copper plates by the artist, and some pieces of goldsmithing. This exhibition is located along the tour route of the Ducal Palace, now enhanced by the recent restoration of the Cavallerizza runner, which offers a panoramic view of the Mantua lakes. With no change in the cost of admission tickets, the museum offerings of the Gonzaga palace thus expand further, providing an additional opportunity for tourists, residents, families, scholars and art lovers.

Giovanni Battista Scultori emerges as a figure of considerable interest within the 16th-century Mantuan school of engraving, although his importance has remained largely unknown to the general public. In the context of 16th-century Italy, Scultori enjoyed considerable fame throughout the peninsula, and his personal events, such as his arrest in 1567 by the Inquisition, caused a great stir. A multi-talented artist, Scultori is cited by Giorgio Vasari primarily as an engraver, described as a “disciple of Giulio Romano” and the author of “very capricious” graphic works, as well as of “extraordinary invention, design and grace.” Vasari attributed to Scultori the same virtues recognized to Giulio, using the term “capriccio” to indicate exceptional ingenuity and mastery of execution.

The exhibition at the Ducal Palace is part of a string of exhibition proposals devoted to delving into lesser-known but significant aspects of the Gonzaga era. Sculptors represents one of these seemingly minor figures who gravitated around Giulio Romano and allow a better understanding of the complex artistic system put in place by the master. Many fascinating questions surface for scholars of the art, including the relationship between master and pupil, that is, between Giulio and Scultori, the contribution of another important 16th-century protagonist, Giovan Battista Bertani, to the creation of the prints, and the real intentions of the prints, which may have been more geared toward demonstrating skill than for actual commercial purposes.

Sculptors’ engravings, far from being mere “popular” products, are rarely found today, and no museum institution has a complete collection of prints attributed to the artist. This exhibition offers the first opportunity to admire these works, thanks to the invaluable collaboration of the Central Institute for Graphics, which also includes engravings dubiously attributed to Scultori and some by Giorgio Ghisi, a skilled pupil of Scultori himself.

“Scultori’s graphic production,” says Palazzo Ducale director Stefano L’Occaso, curator of the exhibition, “is at the basis of the birth of the ’Mantuan school’ of the 16th century: the school that saw the rise of Ghisi (certainly one of the great protagonists of sixteenth-century engraving) and the children of Giovan Battista Adamo and Diana, who will merit a similar exhibition to the one now dedicated to their father. With his protean talent-he was a skilled plasterer but also a stone sculptor, engraver, carver, and bronzeist-Giovanni Battista Scultori spread Mantuan art to various centers in Italy and beyond. He worked in Verona, Trent, Venice, Rome, and perhaps even in Germany, working for dukes and bishops, but also for Emperor Charles V. Sculptors, defined in his time as ’more excellent than no one else’ in his art, thus allows us to explore a world, that of graphic art and engraving, which further expands the range of initiatives and enhancement of the heritage carried out by the museum of Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, thanks to an extraordinary commitment of its staff, to whom my deepest gratitude goes.”

The exhibition is also, as anticipated, an opportunity for the public to admire the magnificent Cortile della Cavallerizza, which has recently been carefully restored. The restoration work, financed as part of the Culture and Tourism Stralcio Plan and aimed at recovering spaces currently not accessible to the public, was supervised by the Palazzo Ducale Project Office, under the guidance of architect Antonio Giovanni Mazzeri, and carried out by BRC S.p.a. of Genoa, with contributions from the firm Carena and Ragazzoni, among others. Construction supervision was entrusted to architect Daniela Lattanzi (Regional Secretariat for Lombardy), while operational management for the surface restoration work was entrusted to Dr. Daniela Marzia Mazzaglia. Safety coordination during execution was handled by geom. Antonio Fabbri.

The Courtyard of the Cavallerizza, one of the most striking architectural elements of the vast Gonzaga complex, now presents itself in all its extraordinary beauty, thanks to the restoration of the original colors that give vitality to the monumental context of the surrounding buildings. The origins of the Cavallerizza date back to 1540, when it was designed as a “corridor” to connect the “Loggia dei Marmi” to the Palazzina della Rustica. Although the construction of the space enclosed on all four sides was completed only under the direction of Giovanni Battista Bertani, Giulio Romano’s successor as prefect of the Gonzaga factories, its current appearance most likely dates from the late 16th century.

Over time, the space took on a specific function: it was here that the famous horses of the Gonzaga family were displayed, hence the original name “Cortile della Mostra.” In this courtyard, for example, shows were held for distinguished guests in 1575, with “exhibitions of the thoroughbred horses and the exercises arranged for that purpose”(nobilium equorum saltus et apparata in eum finem).

In Mantua, a great 16th-century engraver, Giovanni Battista Scultori, on display for the first time

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