In 1948, the Sanvitale family themselves, who lived there for over five centuries, donated the Fortress along with the family furnishings to the Municipality, which later transformed it into a museum.
The rooms of the Fortress of Fontanellato
The sequence of the most interesting rooms of the Sanvitale apartment in the Fortress of Fontanellato begins with the Arms Room adorned with pieces from the 16th to the 18th century; next is the adjoining room of Maria Luigia’s relics, where the famous hand with a flower on the wrist, made by Canova in 1820, is displayed; the reception room, decorated with a 17th-century frieze and furnished with sumptuous Baroque furniture, showcasing a painted spinet and a 17th-century ebony cabinet, and the bridal chamber, with furniture originating from the Madonna sanctuary.
The actual museum path occupies the ground floor, with access from the courtyard: notable in the first room are the Sanvitale portraits attributed to Molinaretto and Baldrighi, and in the recently restored grotesques room, paintings by Carlo Francesco Nuvolone, Boselli, Ilario Spolverini, Carlo Preda. The nearby room with the little theater of Maria Luigia’s children is called “the balancing women’s room” for the monochrome frieze attributed to a student of Cesare Cesariano, likely the decorator of the adjoining amorini room. The visit ends with the so-called “Camera Ottica,” named after the 19th-century device that reflects the town square through a unique mirror game, and the oratory, built in 1688 within the ancient keep.
The Sanvitale Fortress Museum, Fontanellato
The museum houses a historically significant toy theater, once belonging to Albertina di Montenovo, daughter of Maria Luigia of Austria, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza. Dating from between 1820 and 1825, the theater consists of a wooden box that serves as a base and contains it once dismantled. It is 107 cm tall and 91 cm deep. The family coat of arms is depicted on the pediment. The canvas curtain, with a mechanism to roll it up at the top, depicts a garden with a lake and, in the center, a small island with a classical temple.
The theater is equipped with 24 puppets, 18 cm tall. One of them is only 11 cm high and was presumably used to enhance the perspective illusion. The puppets – including Harlequin, Brighella, the Doctor, the King, the Queen, servants and court nobles – are made of wood and plaster. The costumes and accessories are original. Along with the theater, there are 6 cardboard stage sets with various layers of wings depicting different settings: woods, gardens, palace interiors, and city exteriors. Puppets, curtain, stage sets, and pediment are painted with tempera. Source: MIBACT
Information about the Sanvitale Fortress Museum
Piazza Matteotti, 1
43012 Fontanellato (Parma)
Tel. 0521823220
Email: info@fontanellato.org
Website: https://www.fontanellato.org
