Schifanoia Palace (Palazzo Schifanoia)

Palazzo Schifanoia was founded at the end of the 14th century by Alberto V d’Este for recreational purposes. The marquis chose to build it in the western part of ​​the city, very close to the walls, which was not yet fully urbanised and was suitable for urban residences with large gardens: the primitive typology of the palace, a sequence of rooms and their guards on one floor overlooking a loggia, was perfectly suited to this purpose. It was Borso d’Este who elevated the building to the rank of official seat of the ruling class, raising it and equipping it with an external staircase on the side facing the garden and, above a new loggia, the great hall decorated with the cycle of the Months from a team of painters which included Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de Roberti. The building campaign, which lasted from 1466 to 1471, was directed by the ducal engineer Pietro degli Ordini; Biagio Rossetti was employed as a bricklayer, documented for the first time on a construction site.

The closed two-storey complex that characterises the building today is the result of centuries of renovations, expansions and demolitions. The 14th- to 15th-century configuration has been altered above all by the filling in of the ancient loggias and by the demolition of the staircase