The Municipal Palace in Padova, Palazzo della Ragione, was built in 1218 – 1219. It has had several modifications, the last one after a cyclone in 1757.
After the fire of 1420 the entire upper floor was turned into one great hall, as it remains today. The walls are covered with beautiful frescoes. The original Giotto paintings were destroyed in the fire.
From 1425 to about 1440, the Padovan painter, Nicolo Miretti, repainted Giotto’s astronomical theme on the walls and they blend harmoniously with the earlier allegorical and religious paintings by Giusto dei Menabuoi.
Don’t miss the golden lion’s head. There is a hole in the mouth and at certain times of the day the sun shines through it.
Once your eyes adjust to the low light the enormous Trojan horse at the west end of the room comes into view. A copy of Donatello’s bronze horse, it was commissioned in 1446 by Annibale Capodilista for a public carnival.
The huge wooden structure lost it head and tail at some point and they were replaced in the 1800s. A final restoration was completed in 2004 after a careful diagnosis of the problems involved with keeping the horse as authentic as possible.
The Palazzo della Ragione is one of the most beautiful public buildings from mediaeval Europe. How lucky we are that it still exists and we can wander though it…best of all, I was almost alone in the building.
Palazzo della Ragione is open Tuesday to Sunday and you can enter for the sum of €4. Entrance is via the staircase “Scala delle Erbe” from the Piazza delle Erbe. I circled the building a couple of times before I finally located the staircase…be persistent.
