A colourful cardinal's rich legacy
Intrigued by the story of a powerful Renaissance cleric, David Willey went to Ferrara - a city with the appeal of Florence, but without the crowds
Published: 11 June 2005 by Independent.co.uk
What brought me to Ferrara was, of all things, a hat. My search for this hat - I shall explain later - had me pedalling along on a rented bicycle through the uncluttered streets, the public parks, and along the 9km of pathways on top of the ancient city ramparts, a wonderful way to get around this jewel of European medieval and Renaissance urban architecture. Ferrara, a compact city of 130,000 whose university dates back to 1391, is planted in the misty Po river delta just south of Venice.
What brought me to Ferrara was, of all things, a hat. My search for this hat - I shall explain later - had me pedalling along on a rented bicycle through the uncluttered streets, the public parks, and along the 9km of pathways on top of the ancient city ramparts, a wonderful way to get around this jewel of European medieval and Renaissance urban architecture. Ferrara, a compact city of 130,000 whose university dates back to 1391, is planted in the misty Po river delta just south of Venice.
Only a three-and-a-quarter-hour train ride away on the Eurostar Italia north from Rome, or one-and-a-quarter hours south from Venice, Ferrara is easy to reach. You don't need a car. There's practically no motor traffic in the city centre. The medieval streets are too narrow for cars and trucks so they are banished to the outskirts and the modern quarter. Everyone goes around on bicycles; you can rent one for €8 (£5.70) a day at the railway station. A padlock is thrown in to discourage theft while you are visiting the sights. City buses circulate freely, yet the motorini, those noisy and aggressive two wheelers which plague pedestrians trying to navigate the equally narrow streets of the centre of Rome, are rarely to be seen.
The Ferraresi pedal silently around their beautiful city. Shopping bags go effortlessly into the basket in front of the handlebars, and there are plenty of parking racks around the city centre. I asked whether the pollution-free streets are due to a "green" city hall. "No," came the reply. "We Ferraresi have gone around on bicycles as long as we can remember. It wasn't a question of the mayor passing a by-law. It is our custom."
Ferrara owes its particular character to its geography - sited on a branch of the broad River Po - and its long history of independence as one of Italy's former self-governing Duchies.
The city became a commune under the popes as early as 774. By the 13th century Ferrara belonged to the dukes of Este and lasted as a powerful duchy and centre of culture, until it was absorbed into the papal states at the end of the 16th century. Many of the monuments from the heyday of Italian Renaissance courtly life have miraculously escaped destruction. The palaces and churches are largely intact. Some of the former Este homes and palaces have now been taken over by the university. Others are used for temporary exhibitions or are open to tourists, who these days are increasingly frustrated by the crowds of trippers that now frequent major Italian art cities like Florence and Venice. During my three days in Ferrara I never had to jostle with tour groups; it was like being in Florence without the tourists.
My serendipitous visit to Ferrara - my hat-trick, so to speak - was sparked off by a recent book I happened to pick up in a Rome bookshop by a British academic called Mary Hollingsworth.
The Cardinal's Hat: Money, Ambition and Housekeeping in a Renaissance Court tells the story of Cardinal Ippolito D'Este, brother of the Duke of Ferrara, and builder of the famous Villa D'Este at Tivoli near Rome, with its unique pleasure garden and fountains.
Ms Hollingsworth stumbled across the Cardinal's account books, details of his gambling debts and many of his private letters - some in code - in an archive in Modena. She rightly became fascinated by the vivid picture they gave of life at the court of Ferrara during the 16th century.
I read about the huge expenses incurred by a wealthy, ambitious, and well-connected cleric who was a key player in the international papal power games of his day. Ippolito was, of course, no ordinary cleric. He was the second son of Lucrezia Borgia, and had, to put it mildly, unusual family connections. He could boast without exaggeration that he was the grandson of a pope (Alexander VI) and perhaps it was not surprising for those times that he became a bishop at the age of two, was appointed Archbishop of Milan at the somewhat premature age of nine, and was even a contender for the papacy after he wangled his Red Hat.
The palace that Ippolito expensively refurbished for himself and his 100 servants is still visitable, next to the church of St Francis. So are the other residences of the Este family, including the moated castle in the centre of town, with its fairy-tale drawbridge and an elegant hanging garden overlooking the town.
I was bowled over by the frescos of the Palazzo Schifanoia (literally "chase your cares away") built by the Este family as one of their city residences in 1385 in a garden near the river Po, which at that time ran south of the city. The remains of wall paintings frescoed a hundred years later in some upper rooms depicting court life under Duke Borso have just been carefully restored. They give you a vivid idea of the elegance and refinement of life at the beginning of the Renaissance. The Duke inspects his domains accompanied by beautifully dressed and coiffed women. Some of his dogs bark at some startled ducks in a pond. Elaborate floats carrying gods and goddesses of ancient Greece are drawn by finely caparisoned horses through an idealised landscape. Venus is depicted next to a couple enjoying themselves under the sheets of a bed by her side.
Another unforgettable treasure in Ferrara was the image of a beardless, youthful Christ dating from the 4th century AD on the side of a marble Roman sarcophagus dug up in nearby Ravenna. You can see it inside the main entrance of the 900-year-old cathedral. Such examples of early Christian iconography are very rare and remind us that the bearded, much older-looking Christs of later Byzantine art, were just another passing artistic fad.
The Palazzo dei Diamanti, the Diamond Palace, has a stunning façade - entirely covered by 8,500 small pyramidal stones projecting from the wall. The optical effect is extraordinary. The palace was built at the corner of a crossroads in a part of the city developed by Sigismondo D'Este, the brother of the reigning Duke, Ercole the First, at the end of the 15th century. Biagio Rosetti, Ferrara's greatest architect, was the designer.
By chance I was able to see at the Palazzo dei Diamanti an important exhibition of paintings by the 18th-century British painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, which has now transferred for the summer to the Tate Britain in London. My visit was rounded off by a performance at the court theatre of Mozart's Magic Flute in German, conducted by Claudio Abbado, who lives in Ferrara. The sustained quality of Ferrara's musical, artistic and operatic offerings is quite outstanding.
But I think my favourite discovery was the work of the medieval stonemason who sculpted the columns supporting the top storey, high up on the side of St George's Cathedral. He got tired of all those straight lines and jazzed up the façade with zigzags and a series of crazy variations in which the columns appear to do a sort of Charleston before settling down again to play their proper architectural role.
Go and have a look for yourself. And then relax with an ice cream in one of the many agreeable cafés around the Piazza Cattedrale. The food is good too. Local specialities include Capellacci di Zucca, big fat ravioli stuffed with pumpkin, and "swamp foods", such as deep-fried frogs legs and grilled eel. Ferrara is at the centre of a rich agricultural area and is surrounded by the marshes of the Po delta. Try La Zirudela restaurant, Via Saraceno 85, for typical Ferrara fare. And don't miss the Don Giovanni Bar and Restaurant at the beginning of the Corso Ercole 1° D'Este, where once a month Tango enthusiasts from wealthy Emilia Romagna come to dine and twirl around a covered courtyard to perfect their languorous steps.
David Willey has been the BBC's Rome Correspondent for more than 30 years
What brought me to Ferrara was, of all things, a hat. My search for this hat - I shall explain later - had me pedalling along on a rented bicycle through the uncluttered streets, the public parks, and along the 9km of pathways on top of the ancient city ramparts, a wonderful way to get around this jewel of European medieval and Renaissance urban architecture. Ferrara, a compact city of 130,000 whose university dates back to 1391, is planted in the misty Po river delta just south of Venice.
What brought me to Ferrara was, of all things, a hat. My search for this hat - I shall explain later - had me pedalling along on a rented bicycle through the uncluttered streets, the public parks, and along the 9km of pathways on top of the ancient city ramparts, a wonderful way to get around this jewel of European medieval and Renaissance urban architecture. Ferrara, a compact city of 130,000 whose university dates back to 1391, is planted in the misty Po river delta just south of Venice.
Only a three-and-a-quarter-hour train ride away on the Eurostar Italia north from Rome, or one-and-a-quarter hours south from Venice, Ferrara is easy to reach. You don't need a car. There's practically no motor traffic in the city centre. The medieval streets are too narrow for cars and trucks so they are banished to the outskirts and the modern quarter. Everyone goes around on bicycles; you can rent one for €8 (£5.70) a day at the railway station. A padlock is thrown in to discourage theft while you are visiting the sights. City buses circulate freely, yet the motorini, those noisy and aggressive two wheelers which plague pedestrians trying to navigate the equally narrow streets of the centre of Rome, are rarely to be seen.
The Ferraresi pedal silently around their beautiful city. Shopping bags go effortlessly into the basket in front of the handlebars, and there are plenty of parking racks around the city centre. I asked whether the pollution-free streets are due to a "green" city hall. "No," came the reply. "We Ferraresi have gone around on bicycles as long as we can remember. It wasn't a question of the mayor passing a by-law. It is our custom."
Ferrara owes its particular character to its geography - sited on a branch of the broad River Po - and its long history of independence as one of Italy's former self-governing Duchies.
The city became a commune under the popes as early as 774. By the 13th century Ferrara belonged to the dukes of Este and lasted as a powerful duchy and centre of culture, until it was absorbed into the papal states at the end of the 16th century. Many of the monuments from the heyday of Italian Renaissance courtly life have miraculously escaped destruction. The palaces and churches are largely intact. Some of the former Este homes and palaces have now been taken over by the university. Others are used for temporary exhibitions or are open to tourists, who these days are increasingly frustrated by the crowds of trippers that now frequent major Italian art cities like Florence and Venice. During my three days in Ferrara I never had to jostle with tour groups; it was like being in Florence without the tourists.
My serendipitous visit to Ferrara - my hat-trick, so to speak - was sparked off by a recent book I happened to pick up in a Rome bookshop by a British academic called Mary Hollingsworth.
The Cardinal's Hat: Money, Ambition and Housekeeping in a Renaissance Court tells the story of Cardinal Ippolito D'Este, brother of the Duke of Ferrara, and builder of the famous Villa D'Este at Tivoli near Rome, with its unique pleasure garden and fountains.
Ms Hollingsworth stumbled across the Cardinal's account books, details of his gambling debts and many of his private letters - some in code - in an archive in Modena. She rightly became fascinated by the vivid picture they gave of life at the court of Ferrara during the 16th century.
I read about the huge expenses incurred by a wealthy, ambitious, and well-connected cleric who was a key player in the international papal power games of his day. Ippolito was, of course, no ordinary cleric. He was the second son of Lucrezia Borgia, and had, to put it mildly, unusual family connections. He could boast without exaggeration that he was the grandson of a pope (Alexander VI) and perhaps it was not surprising for those times that he became a bishop at the age of two, was appointed Archbishop of Milan at the somewhat premature age of nine, and was even a contender for the papacy after he wangled his Red Hat.
The palace that Ippolito expensively refurbished for himself and his 100 servants is still visitable, next to the church of St Francis. So are the other residences of the Este family, including the moated castle in the centre of town, with its fairy-tale drawbridge and an elegant hanging garden overlooking the town.
I was bowled over by the frescos of the Palazzo Schifanoia (literally "chase your cares away") built by the Este family as one of their city residences in 1385 in a garden near the river Po, which at that time ran south of the city. The remains of wall paintings frescoed a hundred years later in some upper rooms depicting court life under Duke Borso have just been carefully restored. They give you a vivid idea of the elegance and refinement of life at the beginning of the Renaissance. The Duke inspects his domains accompanied by beautifully dressed and coiffed women. Some of his dogs bark at some startled ducks in a pond. Elaborate floats carrying gods and goddesses of ancient Greece are drawn by finely caparisoned horses through an idealised landscape. Venus is depicted next to a couple enjoying themselves under the sheets of a bed by her side.
Another unforgettable treasure in Ferrara was the image of a beardless, youthful Christ dating from the 4th century AD on the side of a marble Roman sarcophagus dug up in nearby Ravenna. You can see it inside the main entrance of the 900-year-old cathedral. Such examples of early Christian iconography are very rare and remind us that the bearded, much older-looking Christs of later Byzantine art, were just another passing artistic fad.
The Palazzo dei Diamanti, the Diamond Palace, has a stunning façade - entirely covered by 8,500 small pyramidal stones projecting from the wall. The optical effect is extraordinary. The palace was built at the corner of a crossroads in a part of the city developed by Sigismondo D'Este, the brother of the reigning Duke, Ercole the First, at the end of the 15th century. Biagio Rosetti, Ferrara's greatest architect, was the designer.
By chance I was able to see at the Palazzo dei Diamanti an important exhibition of paintings by the 18th-century British painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, which has now transferred for the summer to the Tate Britain in London. My visit was rounded off by a performance at the court theatre of Mozart's Magic Flute in German, conducted by Claudio Abbado, who lives in Ferrara. The sustained quality of Ferrara's musical, artistic and operatic offerings is quite outstanding.
But I think my favourite discovery was the work of the medieval stonemason who sculpted the columns supporting the top storey, high up on the side of St George's Cathedral. He got tired of all those straight lines and jazzed up the façade with zigzags and a series of crazy variations in which the columns appear to do a sort of Charleston before settling down again to play their proper architectural role.
Go and have a look for yourself. And then relax with an ice cream in one of the many agreeable cafés around the Piazza Cattedrale. The food is good too. Local specialities include Capellacci di Zucca, big fat ravioli stuffed with pumpkin, and "swamp foods", such as deep-fried frogs legs and grilled eel. Ferrara is at the centre of a rich agricultural area and is surrounded by the marshes of the Po delta. Try La Zirudela restaurant, Via Saraceno 85, for typical Ferrara fare. And don't miss the Don Giovanni Bar and Restaurant at the beginning of the Corso Ercole 1° D'Este, where once a month Tango enthusiasts from wealthy Emilia Romagna come to dine and twirl around a covered courtyard to perfect their languorous steps.
David Willey has been the BBC's Rome Correspondent for more than 30 years.
