Page - 497 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

497The Neugebäude would have heard about the Palazzo del Principe from Perino del Vaga himself, ‘in vita sua mio amicissimo’, and would have obtained drawings of it, possibly with the graphic remains from Perino’s studio he acquired from his widow in 1554–1555. Just as Maximilian was received in and was shown around the Palazzo Doria at Fassolo by its owner, Charles v’s admiral, he must have been shown around the Villa Gonzaga in Milan while passing through the city on his travels to and from Spain: its patron was Ferrante Gonzaga, governor of Milan for Charles v, and therefore Maximilian’s host.101 During Maximilian’s first trips the villa, now named Vila Gonzaga-Simonetta, was still under construction; but as at Genova there can be no doubt that Maximilian would have been shown it on one of his later visits, if he was not actually lodged there: receiving high- ranking guests was one of the principal functions of such representative residences. Like the Palazzo del Principe, the Villa Gonzaga, built by the Tuscan architect Domenico Giunti, opens up towards its gardens and surrounding landscape by means of ample loggias [Fig. 9.90–9.91], in this case consisting of colonnades, rather than columns carrying arcades. It was thus more Vitruvian and up-to- date than the Palazzo del Principe. Both these loggias and the twin fishponds in front of the garden facade may later have stimulated Maximilian’s ideas for the Neugebäude. 101 On the villa Gonzaga-Simonetta, see Robert Ribaud, ‘Villa Simonetta’ [= scheda on the website LombardiaBeniCulturali, www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/architetture/schede/ LMD80-00549/, consulted 12-12-2013. Engravings of the villa by Marc’Antonio Dal Re were included in Ville di delizia nello Stato di Milano, 1726. Maximilian visited Milan in 1548 (7– 9 July), in 1550 (late in November), 1551 (30 June–1 July and 2–5 December) [Holtzmann 1903, p. 83 and note 6; p. 99; p. 141, 144–145]. Figures 9.90–9.91 The Villa Gonzaga-Simonetta in Milan, built 1547–1555 after designs by Domenico Giunti, in a print by Marc’Antonio dal Re (1726); and the principal façade.