Costabili Palace, known as Palace of Ludovico il Moro (Palazzo Costabili, detto di Ludovico il Moro)

Palazzo Costabili, now home to the National Archaeological Museum, is one of the finest buildings of the Ferrara Renaissance, but also one of the most enigmatic.

The building was founded by Antonio Costabili, noble ambassador of the Este family to the Sforza court, probably in 1496, when he received the promise of a loan from Ercole I “for his chaxa”. A tradition dating back to Marcantonio Guarini (1621), claims that it was commissioned by Ludovico il Moro, who, concerned about the arrival of Charles VIII in Italy, is said to have entrusted large sums to Antonio to build him a retreat in Ferrara. Archival papers do not support this hypothesis, but neither do they definitively deny it.

The attribution of the building, which is unfinished, passed over the years from Biagio Rossetti to Donato Bramante, to then returned to Rossetti, whose presence is confirmed, except for a brief interruption, by documentary evidence. Although the building marks a leap in scale compared to the contemporary residential architecture of Ferrara, and the forms deployed in it show a strong desire to modernise, the project is not compatible with the style that Bramante was developing in those years. Many of its features are instead comparable with Biagio’s style and the building is an extraordinary confirmation of his ingenious eclecticism.