Page - 499 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

499The Neugebäude the facade of the Te—blind galleries consisting of a screen-like series of inter- connected serliane flanking a huge central loggia of three arches resting on coupled columns, and topped by a monumental attic actually masked by an airy gallery—is far more inventive and sophisticated. It is so unusual that the eighteenth-century restorer, Paolo Pozzo, decided to replace Giulio’s playful capriccio by a more strictly correct classical facade [Fig. 9.93]. Like the Neuge- bäude this facade has been compared to Split; one should note, however, that whereas Split and the Neugebäude consciously use the socle zone as a podium elevating the principal level of the building and emphasizing its prestige, the substructure at Mantua overlooks a set of fishponds conceived as a deep but narrow moat separating the building from the garden, which is situated at the same level as the piano nobile, to which it is connected by a wide bridge in the centre. In this way Giulio succeeded in making this stupendous palace, which contains three floor levels, look like an elegant, one-story garden pavilion.103 As such the palace may have appealed to Maximilian, and his visit may have inspired him with the idea of adding architecturally framed fishponds to his 103 But note that Andreasi’s drawing does not indicate the water level, and thus strongly sug- gests a socle zone similar to those in Split and Vienna. Figure 9.93 The garden facade of the Palazzo del Te, as adapted by Paolo Pozzo in the late eighteenth century.