Il Mauriziano, Renaissance villa in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Il Mauriziano is a Renaissance villa in Reggio Emilia with a square layout, a symmetrical central hall, and three decorated rooms with sail vaults. Entry to the complex passes through a terracotta triumphal arch, followed by a long tree-lined avenue that leads directly to the main building.
The building's pointed-arch windows point to a late-medieval origin as a Benedictine convent, divided into pars dominica and pars massaricia. In 1432 it passed to the Malaguzzi family, to which Daria belonged; her son Ludovico Ariosto spent his childhood here and returned for summers in 1494–1497 and 1502–1503. Orazio Malaguzzi restored it in the 16th century and Prospero Malaguzzi in the 18th; Reggio Emilia bought the complex on 18 January 1864.
The three small rooms in the east wing are called the Ariosto rooms, with sail vaults and hanging capitals dated to the 15th and 16th centuries. The Camerino dell'Ariosto keeps furniture placed there in 1874 and decorations made after 1567, influenced by Nicolò dell'Abate, though the Malaguzzi family attributed them to the painter himself and dated them to 1540–1552.
To reach the building, visitors walk through the terracotta arch and along the avenue, which gives a good first sense of the grounds. The path is flat and step-free, making it accessible for most visitors.
The Horatii Chamber has walls covered with frescoes showing landscapes and Roman ruins that refer to specific episodes from ancient history. These images mix archaeological references with painted invention in a way that turns the room into a lived history scene.
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