This paper examines the way in which Ferrara was architecturally and urbanistically structured along the river during the Renaissance, when the entire city front facing the Po was the focus of numerous urbanistic interventions aimed at creating a magnificent backdrop for those who reached the city by water. Obscured by the scholarly insistence on the so-called “Herculean Addition”, the Ferrarese riverfront along the Po should be recognized as an area of particular importance for the Este princes, who paid great attention to the delicate relationship between the river and the architecture along its banks. In order to explore this predilection of the Este, this paper examines also a grandiose project undertaken by the last duke, Alfonso II (1533-1597) for a seignorial settlement at the very end of the Po delta, on the island of Mesola.
The spectacle of power on the Po. Ferrara and its riverfront during the Renaissance
Francesco Ceccarelli
2019
Abstract
This paper examines the way in which Ferrara was architecturally and urbanistically structured along the river during the Renaissance, when the entire city front facing the Po was the focus of numerous urbanistic interventions aimed at creating a magnificent backdrop for those who reached the city by water. Obscured by the scholarly insistence on the so-called “Herculean Addition”, the Ferrarese riverfront along the Po should be recognized as an area of particular importance for the Este princes, who paid great attention to the delicate relationship between the river and the architecture along its banks. In order to explore this predilection of the Este, this paper examines also a grandiose project undertaken by the last duke, Alfonso II (1533-1597) for a seignorial settlement at the very end of the Po delta, on the island of Mesola.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.