A forest of construction sites: how the Ducal Palace in Mantua will become. Director Stefano L'Occaso speaks.

For the past few months Stephen L’Occaso has been reappointed as director of the Ducal Palace in Mantua, a vast complex that since 2021 has seen the opening of numerous construction sites aimed at seismic improvement and structural restoration: some have already been completed, and one thinks of the very important Pisanello Hall. Others are ongoing, with varying degrees of progress. The project is massive, and to find out its most relevant aspects, we interviewed L’Occaso.

MS. Director, can you describe for us the current situation of the Ducal Palace in Mantua?

SLO. Palazzo Ducale is a thicket of 12 to 15 construction sites currently underway and will be for at least a couple more years. Managing them simultaneously is a huge effort on the part of the institution, but I would like to point out that the museum has always remained open and this is almost a “miracle.” Normally, with such a large amount of work and the amount of interference involved, museums close their doors and reopen when the work is finished; instead, we had the courage to keep it open all the time, and we did well because in this way we were able to guarantee a service, sometimes perhaps a bit laborious. The choice was also based on the fact that, unfortunately, these construction sites tend to be prolonged and last longer than expected, sometimes for indeterminable lengths of time, but our museum also lives off the income from ticketing: it was therefore unthinkable to close it for a long period.

To the Ducal Palace’s advantage, however, there is such a vastness-the complex covers 35 thousand square meters with more than a thousand rooms-that it is possible to keep the museum open despite the many works...

That’s true, but we have also had restoration work on strategic areas of the itinerary, such as in St. George’s Castle, at the entrance to the castle itself, in Castello Square, on its main floor, in the Manto Hall and other crucial areas. Some areas could be taken out of the tour route, such as the Guastalla apartment-where there is the collection of the Middle Ages-which has been closed for two years now and will probably only be reopened in 2027 because it needs work that is not easy.

Among other things, the construction sites are part of an itinerary that is complex in itself, which has no visiting order based on a chronological sequence, right?

The route is strenuous first of all because we have a ticket office that is far from the entrance and is perhaps not even properly marked, on par with the entrance. In fact, a lot of the public goes to the castle thinking they will find the entrance there and are sent back to Piazza Sordello to get their ticket: this is a situation I am aware of and I am trying to solve it. I would also like to break up the itinerary to ensure more homogeneity among the areas that can be visited: for example, the Castello has its own coherence in terms of layouts; the Corte Nuova can have its own coherence; the Archaeological Museum fortunately is already a well-identified unit. Perhaps there will have to be a focus on more entrances and more exits, and this could also be a way to keep the public coming back, because beyond the Bridal Chamber-the only room that has the need for a quota and therefore a reservation-the other spaces could be visited more calmly, returning on the same or different days. From a tourist point of view, all this could entice people to stay in Mantua and enjoy the artistic heritage more easily.

What are the origins of the current itinerary?

Transit through a series of eras and styles has been the hallmark of the museum for more than two decades, because at that time it was decided to have visitors walk through the entire palace. This choice stems from an incorrect conception of the complex and its history, based on an assumed continuity of the palace, with its corridors and galleries connecting the various building bodies. It is true that these galleries existed and existed as early as the Renaissance, when they also had an exhibition function, but undoubtedly at one time the palace was enjoyed in compartments: those who lived in the large apartment in Castello certainly did not move freely through five other private apartments to get to the duke’s apartment: one went out and came back in. Even the factories were located outside and the use of the buildings was broken up. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, the continuity was emphasized by some interventions, for example, the homogeneous terracotta floors and the removal of the doors that previously had a precise function, namely to create breaks between the different areas. Today, of course, we cannot put the doors back, partly for security reasons, but the interruptions existed and the nature of the palace was more heterogeneous than we think.

How could the visit be improved to make it more “friendly”?

Currently, the visit is frequently quick and aimed at finding the highlights of the museum, so it can lead to inattention on the part of the public: those who arrive in the Pisanello room, despite the work done, often no longer have the energy to stop and admire the fresco and tend to leave quickly. It should also be considered that further expansion of the rooms is planned, and of course we have to ensure the usability of the areas we are restoring. We have to think about the possibility of the public focusing their visit by nuclei, so that they can better understand the spaces, whereas now we go from the Renaissance to the Baroque, then to the Middle Ages, Neoclassical, etc. Perhaps, without getting to a kind of “stew,” it would be correct to restore a conception of the palace by nuclei that is more homogeneous from the point of view of arrangements and chronological consistency. However, without forgetting that so many tourists demand a complete tour, and it will therefore be necessary to ensure a minimum itinerary-dedicated to those who do not have too much time-that embraces all the masterpieces.

What do you mean when you talk about expansion? Are spaces planned for new museum projects?

In the Casino delle Guardie Nobili, once the construction sites are closed, a new museum will be set up that will be connected with the rest of the palace, although it could be considered a separate nucleus with autonomous access from Piazza Santa Barbara. Initially we wanted to give continuity to the chronological itinerary, then we chose to include in the nascent Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art works dating from the last years of the nineteenth century, if not from the twentieth century, giving space to the contemporary as well. Works from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, which we had already identified, will instead be placed inside the Empress’s apartment, a particularly deputed place because there is already evidence of that period, including a bust of Napoleon, as well as neoclassical decorations consistent with that era. The new museum will display material from both state and municipal ownership, all works that are currently stored in places not accessible to the public.

So does the Ducal Palace in Mantua intend to open up to the contemporary?

Yes, and I would add that another project I am very keen on is the creation of an outdoor space in Piazza Castello, an extension that will be able to be used by the community and will be able to host exhibitions for the artists of our time. In addition, the ground floor of the Casino delle Guardie Nobili will have two residences for artists. The choice on the contemporary will not have to be provincial and therefore it will be necessary to work on a rather high scale, because this Mantua deserves. After all, in the 16th century the greatest national and international artists converged on the city....

Do you plan to implement the services of the Ducal Palace?

Let’s start with the restrooms, which in my opinion are the calling card of a museum: we are redoing the restrooms on the first floor of Castello, and I have had a feasibility study prepared for toilets in the middle. With a view to an overall revisiting of the Palazzo del Capitano, we plan to keep the ticket office on Piazza Sordello, adding the entrance services, bookshop, checkroom and bathrooms, as well as a cafeteria. In addition, I would like to set up a second ticket office-at least an automatic one since there are perhaps no requirements for a second physical ticket office-in Piazza Castello, in a newly vacated space. The ticketing machines would allow different types of transactions: through the site, or by Pos or credit card.

Which operation, among those already completed, are you most proud of?

I am proud of the achievement in the courtyard of the Cavallerizza, with the Corridor-hitherto never open to the public-that leads from the Hall of the Months into Rustica: it is a wonderful passage that allows us to understand the nature of the palace and its relationship with the landscape and the water system of Mantua.

Let’s unveil some figures: how much has been allocated and spent, to date, on the construction sites of the Ducal Palace? And have any Pnnr funds been used or are they planned to come in?

The first funding was requested after the 2012 earthquake, and today of course we are suffering this delay, because with those sums we can complete 25-30% less than we did about ten years ago. Therefore, we have supplemented the interventions with budget funds, while we have requested funding from the NRP only for Casino of the Noble Guards: having so many construction sites underway, we have in fact not dared to ask for too much, also because the NRP allocations have very difficult timelines to follow. Currently, thanks to Law 190 (2025-2027), we have focused on projects that have already been authorized by the Superintendence, reversing the classic procedure: rather than asking for money and then starting to design, we have started the design and then asked for funding, so that we have the certainty of the amounts, the feasibility and the contracting of the works. The amount from the Development and Cohesion Fund was 12 million euros, and about 5 million more remain to be spent, considering that in 2024 alone, which has just ended, the administration paid about 6 million euros, which is quite a lot. Also last year we spent something like 500 thousand euros of budget funds to support the construction sites.

And how many people visited the Ducal Palace in 2023 and 2024? And how much did you collect from ticket sales?

In 2023 the number of visitors was 287 thousand; in 2024 it dropped slightly (270 thousand), but curiously enough the receipts increased, although without ticket changes: evidently we lost a little in the non-paying public, probably the schoolchildren. In 2023 with ticketing we grossed 1,870,000 euros, and this year the figure is almost identical. Perhaps in the last year visitors have decreased, probably because we have not had any major exhibitions, except for the one on Giovan Battista Scultori, for which we used a very small budget; after all, we invested almost all the resources on procurement to cover what was missing from funding.

Empress’s Apartment

Are there any new exhibitions planned for the coming months?

Yes, this year we will mount an exhibition on Diana Scultori Ghisi and we are planning one on the patronage of Ferdinando Gonzaga. I would also have in mind a project on the period from the death of Mantegna to the arrival of Giulio Romano, an extraordinary period that sees the presence in Mantua of Correggio, Lorenzo Lotto, Giovan Francesco Tura, the Pordenone, Romanino, Lorenzo Costa and many others, a real melting pot of experiences in the Po Valley. However, it would be a very costly exhibition and unthinkable with our institute budget; we would need generous sponsorship from private individuals, which, however, is lacking. We do get help from foundations as much as they can, and we do receive some sponsorship for particular projects: the most recent is the one earmarked for new lighting for the Bridal Chamber and which will be entrusted to light designer Francesco Murano, who has presented a beautiful project.

Let’s project ourselves into the future of the Ducal Palace: what do you expect by the end of your term?

I’ve taken on a huge amount of construction and eight years of work may not be enough, but I hope to enjoy the last year without scaffolding so that I can take care of the public and the enhancement of the museum, two aspects that I had to put aside a bit. In particular, I would like to work on cultural mediation-I have three school-age children, and their classmates come from very different cultures. These children feel simultaneously attracted and repelled by museums because of a narrative that is often not part of their cultural heritage. It should therefore be made clear that a Nativity is yes a Christian subject, but not only that, and it can have elements in common with different cultures. Our society is increasingly multiethnic, and museums should start talking to young people. In addition, I think it is necessary to tell the story of art in an original way, for example from more “technical” and less self-referential points of view, so that it can speak to everyone, even from perspectives other than the usual ones.

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