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Statue of Ferrante I Gonzaga

Standing in the main town square of Piazza Mazzini is the bronze statue of Ferrante I Gonzaga, an imposing monument that dominates the square itself and Via Gonzaga.
Guastalla
Statue of Ferrante I Gonzaga

Adress

Piazza Mazzini - 42016 Guastalla

Historical information

Ferrante I Gonzaga. This exquisitely crafted statue was made by Leone Leoni, an artist at the court of the Spanish Emperor Charles V. Ferrante I, the first member of the illustrious House of Gonzaga to rule the city, is depicted in the act of trampling on a satyr, the symbol of vice, and a decapitated hydra, representing envy and slander. The scene is an allegorical representation symbolizing Ferrante’s loyalty to the Emperor against those who levelled specious accusations against him during his governorship in Milan. Ferrante went personally to the court of Charles V and silenced those who had tried to throw him into disrepute. In order to commemorate the episode, his son Cesare commissioned the Statue which was erected in the spot where it stands today in 1594.