Museo archeologico nazionale di Ferrara - Palazzo Costabili

Museo Archeologico Nazionale

Located in the building designed by Biagio Rossetti for Antonio Costabili, the museum preserves the finds from the necropolis and the town of Spina, the thriving Etruscan commercial port, one of the focal points of the region between the sixth and third centuries B.C. The exhibition contains some of the grave furniture found in the four thousand tombs of the necropolis, among which a large collection of Attic pottery, in particular red-figured vases of the fifth century B.C. On the ground floor is the "Sala del Tesoro" (Treasure Hall) which displays one of the most beautiful frescoes painted by Garofalo at the beginning of the 14th century, as well as the "Sala delle Piroghe" the Hall of Pirogues, with boats of the late Roman period (3rd-4th century AD); other rooms display the finds from the town of Spina and items regarding religion and the different languages spoken in this multi-cultural centre of the ancient world. The The first floor is dedicated to the necropolis of the city and includes masterpieces of painted Attic vases, Etruscan bronzes and precious objects imported from all over the Mediterranean; here is also the "Sala degli Ori" (Room of Gold) with its collection of gold jewelry, silver, amber and glass paste, dating from the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Palazzo Costabili detto "di Ludovico il Moro"Even though it bears the name of Ludovico Maria Sforza, called Il Moro, duke of Milan from 1494-1499, the Palazzo was actually commissioned by Antonio Costabili, an important nobleman of the court of duke Ercole I d'Este, secretary and Ambassador for the Este in Milan. The building was projected by Biagio Rossetti , the most distinguished ferrarese architect of the Renaissance, to whom the duke Ercole in 1492 entrusted the grand plan of urbanistic reorganization of the city, the so called "Herculean Addition“.The palace rose on the ancient Via della Ghiara, named for the gravel deposited by an ancient branch of the river Po that used to flow here.The construction of the building, according to local historians, was suggested by Ludovico il Moro himself, who wanted to have a safe exile, in case he was to lose his duchy. It is also a testimony of historical and political alliances between the two cities, Ferrara and Milano, already strengthened by matrimonial bonds-Lodovico was married to Beatrice, the daughter of Ercole I, and was the uncle of Anna Sforza, married with Alfonso d'Este.Central point of the palace is the Courtyard of Honour, completed only on two sides and adorned with a double lodge with sculptural decorations in white stone. This work was probably executed by Gabriele Frisoni, to whom the marble monumental staircase that leads the visitor to the noble floor is also attributed.