My lord! What a place! I could spend a week here!

Let’s start by looking at this amazing ceiling fresco:

Below, from the Hall of the Horses. The Gonzaga dynasty were particularly well-known for their horse connoisseurship, as well as their horse breeding.

The following photos are just some of the amazing artworks from the Palazzo.

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And this still isn’t all of my photos. Stay tuned!

Palazzo Te, in Mantua, should be high on any art lover’s list of places to see in Italy. I finally got to see it a few months ago, when Covid restrictions were very light. Ah, the good old days!

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The photo above shows the main building of the Palazzo Te, as see from inside the complex and at the far end of the grassy courtyard.

The picture above is taken from inside the arcade within the main building, looking across the grassy courtyard to the far end.

The Palazzo Te complex is a glorious work of art and the paintings inside are beyond belief.

At the far end of the grassy courtyard of the complex, there is a beautiful little grotto:

There is so much more to see, I’ll be back soon with more pictures from Mantua and Palazzo Te!

You want to see an “ideal city?” Head about 20 miles outside of Mantova and there you will find a made-to-order small city, created in full during the 16th century by the local Gonzaga ruling family.

One thing I can say for certain, horses and Mantua are an age-old combination. The Gonzaga court was known for its equine speciality and some frescoes and sculptures from the age speak to this love affair.

Ironically, at least to me, I saw this butcher shop in Mantova, specializing in horse meat. I found it funny. Sorry.

It’s the bleak month of February during a pandemic and I need all the beauty I can find!

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And now I don’t feel so bad…

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I need one of these, adult sized please!

A couple days ago I posted part 1 on the lovely little village of Borgo San Lorenzo, not far from Florence. I still have a lot to share!

Below, the pretty town park, with its monument to the fallen dead of WWI.

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The Borgo still has parts of its 13th century city walls:

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Every town needs a pleasure cafe, doesn’t it?

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Miscellaneous sights:

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The building below is the commune’s library. I wonder if it also serves as a town hall, based upon all the commemorative plaques:

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Below, a few shots of some interesting architecture and details:

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Next I arrived at the Pieve di San Lorenzo, the parish church.

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Above is the church’s baptismal font:

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When I am in these old churches, I almost always spot something unique about them, or at least something I’ve not encountered anywhere previously. The next few pictures above and below show little boxes set in the wall in which a parishioner could insert money for a specific cause: one seems to be having to do with purgatory and the other is dedicated to necessities that the parish church needed.

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Outside the church, on the right side of the facade, sits this incredible tabernacle dedicated to St. Francis. It has coats of arms of a lot of famous Tuscan families all around it, as well as images of more faithful dogs and primitive but delightful birds listening to St. Francis preach. The ceramics in this gorgeous work of art speak to the sign I saw near the Borgo’s train station, saying that this town is the town of ceramics.

The picture above shows a ceramic plaque that speaks to a “Liberty Itinerary” which is tied up with the town’s history with ceramic art. As I mentioned above, I’ll discuss this in a future post.

And, finally, some shots to close out this post. I am always interested to see how the fabric of the walls of buildings are formed. So often there are traces of prior buildings, which the Italians, ever aware of their incredible history, are wont to save. The next photos tells this story in the Borgo.

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I loved my brief visit to the Mugello and will go again soon! Hopefully this Covid scourge will be under control within the next few months, with the vaccine becoming more widely used. Speriamo! There is so much to see and do in Italia!