Page - 46 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

Chapter �46 of the plague around 1630 the Della Strata—or Strada, as they began call- ing themselves in the sixteenth century—appear to have held a respectable, but not particularly notable position among the local urban patriciate. Their occupations included those of notary and apothecary (speziale), while some of them held functions within the administration of the town and of the Gonzaga state. Apart from the said Vivaldo, their most illustrious representative in the Quattrocento seems to have been Giovanni Francesco, canon of Mantua cathe- dral, and private chaplain and chamberlain of Cardinal Ludovico Gonzaga.3 The massaro Vivaldo and his descendants inhabited a house in the Con- trada della Pusterla, located at nr. 25 of the present Via Mazzini, which was probably the largest house belonging to any of the various branches of the family, and possibly its cradle. The house has been altered many times, but some of its parts seem to date back to the thirteenth century, and it is clear that it was partially reconstructed and extended sometime after the middle of the fifteenth century. The beautiful columns of red Veronese marble whose capitals are decorated with the Strada arms [Figs. 1.1–1.2] must date from this time, and it is tempting to connect this conversion with the expected visit of the Burgundian delegation. This holds in particular for the large reception hall constructed about this time, which was provided with a quite festive decora- tion in fresco, consisting of a frieze hung with garlands and painted shields with the arms of several Mantuan families [Fig. 1.3]. The frieze itself is composed of panels decorated with a rich, classicizing candelabre motif, alternated with portrait-medallions representing Roman 3 On the Strada of Mantua, see D’Arco, ms. Famiglie Mantovane, s.v. Strada (as in n. 1); D’Arco 1857(b), ii, p. 283 and now the privately printed genealogy by Yves Chabot de l’ Allier, Génealogie de la maison de Strada: De Strada de Rosberg dite de Strada d’Arosberg, de Strada de Mantoue, de Strada de France, de Strada de Prague, s.l. 1990. Figure �.�–�.� The former Strada house at 25 Via Mazzini, Mantua: courtyard and a capital with the Strada arms.