Mullioned Windows’s Room

You are now in the “Mullioned Windows’ Room” which owes its name to the two large windows of late Gothic style, evidence of the palace being commissioned by the Miniscalchi family at the end of the 15th century. The fragments of frescoes, unearthed in 1983 during the restoration work, belonged to the original decoration of the frescoed façade at the end of the 16th century. 

Portrait of Niccolò I Erizzo 

This is the portrait of Niccolò I Erizzo with his children. The painting was done by Sebastiano Bombelli in 1694, the year of Nicholas Erizzo's appointment as ambassador to the court of King Louis XIV. Niccolò was born in Venice on 30 July, 1655; an anonymous biography describes him as a man of difficult character, irascible, ambitious, superb, lover of luxury and excesses. All this did not prevent him from following a prestigious diplomatic career: he was chief magistrate of Vicenza, ambassador for the Serenissima to Louis XIV, at the papal court, and also in England by Queen Anna Stuart. Devoted to his family, he had thirteen children whom he brought with him to the various diplomatic offices to which he was sent. 

In the middle of the room is an 18th century wooden travel cabinet, inlaid with landscapes, ruins and musical instruments. Additionally, there is an iron chest that belonged to Prince Eugene of Savoy-Carignano-Soissons, whose origin is corroborated by the presence of two Savoy coats of arms in the metal plate that internally covers the gears of the lock.

Plate depicting the story of Latona from the Isabella d'Este service

If you turn to your right, in the small niche you can admire one of the 22 remaining plates that belonged to Isabella d'Este Gonzaga. It was made between 1519 and 1525 by Nicola da Urbino, one of the most famous majolica masters of the sixteenth century. 

The theme of this majolica is inspired from Ovide’s myth: Latona with his two children try to drink some water from the river, but the peasants poison it. Consequently, Latona decides to punish them by transforming them into frogs. 

On the top left, within a quartered shield is standing out hanging from the branch of a tree, which is associated with the noble arms of the Este and the Gonzaga families. On the right, in a scroll hanging from a leaf, the personal enterprise of Isabella, alluding to esoteric interests-Kabbalistic of the marquise. Below, in a small cartouche, there is the motto “nec spe / nec metu” (without hope / without fear).