Palazzo della Ragione, Medieval palace museum in Padua, Italy
Palazzo della Ragione is a medieval market and court building between Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta, resting on 90 pillars in four rows. Its upper floor holds the Salone, a trapezoidal hall 81.5 m long, 27 m wide and 24 m high, under a wooden ceiling shaped like an inverted ship's hull. The walls are covered with frescoes, and a bronze horse stands on the western side.
The building was constructed in the 12th century as the city's administrative and judicial center. After a fire destroyed the original wall paintings, new frescoes were added to replace them and remain visible today.
The Salone's frescoes, painted by Nicolò Miretto and Stefano da Ferrara between 1425 and 1440, follow the astrology of Pietro d'Abano: each month is introduced by an apostle and paired with zodiac signs, planets and trades. The lower band shows the cardinal and theological virtues and Padua's patron saints, with roundels of animals above the benches where judges and notaries sat.
The Salone is reached by four staircases at the palace corners, named for the old market trades: degli uccelli and del vino on the Piazza delle Erbe side, della frutta and dei ferri on the Piazza della Frutta side. The ground floor stays a working food market, so expect crowds and noise below; the hall above is quieter. Look near the Volto della Corda for the old Paduan measures carved in white stone.
The wooden horse on the hall's western side was built in 1466 and modelled on Donatello's equestrian statue of Gattamelata outside the Basilica of Saint Anthony. In the northeast corner stands the pietra del vituperio, a black stone stool where insolvent debtors once sat in public humiliation.
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