Galleria degli Antichi and Palazzo Giardino at Sabbioneta: Remarks from archive research and direct survey

The paper focus on two historical building, the Galleria degli Antichi and Palazzo Giardino at Sabbioneta, the capital of the duchy of Vespasiano Gonzaga, included in the UNESCO Word Heritage list in 2008, along with the city of Mantua. Sabbioneta was built in the 16th century in about 35 years, transforming the existing fortification and the traces of the ancient settlements into an Ideal City, recognisable as one of the higher examples of the Renaissance principles in urban planning. After the death of the Duke Vespasiano Gonzaga in 1591, the town was neglected for long time with positive and negative outcomes. From one side we can observe few changes in the general urban layout; from the other sides the single buildings underwent maintenance problem. The “Galleria degli Antichi”, the Gallery of the Ancients, built between 1583 and 1584 to host the art collection of the Duke, and connected through a flyover passage to a former building, “Palazzo Giardino”. The sequence of the recent interventions, which are affecting the present state of preservation of the buildings, is presented and discussed. The research was carried out through an accurate comparison of the archive documents and the direct inspection of the buildings. The investigation of the architectural complex included geometrical survey, analysis of the materials, of their decay, of the building technique and of the structural condition. An important step of the research is the evaluation of the building evolution in the XX century, resulting from the different interventions, uses and ownerships.