Palazzo dei Diamanti: Attraction informations
Palazzo dei Diamanti is one of the most important architectonic pieces in Ferrara. The palazzo represents the richness of the city during the Renaissance period, and the incredible capacity to evolve showed by the intellectuals who were part of the Estense court.
The palazzo sits in Corso Ercole I, inside the so-called Quadrivio degli Angeli as the ideal center of the Herculean Addition, the enlargement of the city projected during the 15th century by duke Ercole.
The duke and his architects wanted to enlarge the ancient medieval city following a modern urbanistic vision; their aim was to build the ideal city. Inside the Quadrivio degli Angeli two main streets cross, perfectly perpendicular, meant to be the cardo and decumanus for the construction of the rest of the addition.
This ambitious project never saw the light. Not only did the population increase forecast fail, but the Estense family also had to face several political crisis that ended in their surrender.
The project, the façade and the interiors
Palazzo dei Diamanti owes its name to its
amazing façade: on it, we can count
8500 squared white and pink marble blocks, composing its unmistakable ashlar.
The refinement of the
palazzo’s project is clear looking at the placement of the blocks. Although almost invisible to the eye, the blocks have all
different inclinations, giving visitors and passersby the feeling that the tip of each diamond is parallel to the street level.
Designed by
architect Biagio Rossetti, the
palazzo was used as the private home of
Sigismondo d'Este, brother of Ercole I. Rossetti was un unconventional architect and wanted the focus not on the main façade of the building but rather on the corner over the road crossing. Not by chance, this corner displays one of the most important decorative elements of the palazzo’s exterior, the
delicate balcony.
The Palazzo dei Diamanti belongs to the Municipality of Ferrara since 1832 and is currently used for temporary art exhibitions. It hosts within its walls The
Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara, with its high value collection of paintings.
The Pinacoteca art gallery occupies the main rooms and halls of the
palazzo, among which the imposing honor sitting room and Duchess
Virginia de’ Medici’s private quarters, used along the 16th century.
The paintings treasured inside the Pinacoteca go from the 13th to the 18th century, with some amazing works by the Ferrarese Renaissance great artists like
Cosmè Tura, Ercole de Roberti, Lorenzo Costa and many others.
