Town hall of Ferrara

Description

The original core of the building was begun in 1245 along via Cortevecchia and assumed its final dimensions between 1472 and 1481.

The main entrance, placed in front of the Cathedral of San Giorgio called the Volto del Cavallo, is flanked by the equestrian statue of the marquis Niccolò III and that of the duke Borso d'Este seated on the faldistorio holding a sceptre in the act of administering justice. After the proclamation of 1443, on 2 June 1451 the equestrian statue of Nicolò III was hoisted on an unusual type of support inspired by Roman triumphal arches or according to another hypothesis by column-shaped pedestals that would recall Roman imperial models found in Constantinople. The construction of the monument was entrusted to the Florentine sculptors Antonio di Cristoforo (the figure of the marquis), Nicolò Baroncelli (the horse), who cast both the animal and the statue, and Meo di Checco, better known as Bartolomeo di Francesco, assisted by Lazzaro di Padova and Baccio de Netti from Florence for the transposition into marble of the base designed by Leon Battista Alberti, to whom the marquis Leonello d'Este turned for advice and judgement regarding the designs.

The statue of Borso, also completed in 1453 by Baroncelli, who in the meantime had become Niccolò del Cavallo, was perfected by his son Giovanni and brother-in-law Domenico di Paride in the family workshop due to the death of the author, and completed with the addition of four shield-bearing geniuses in 1456, executed by Domenico, with the Este and City coats of arms placed at the corners of the base. Inaugurated on 19 December 1454, it was first placed in front of the Podestà's residence (to the right of the then Palazzo della Ragione) and a year after Borso's death, in 1472 it was moved next to his father's, where it remained until its destruction in October 1796 to obtain bronze for cannons. The Este family’s coat of arms was added to the base in 1456.

Seismic events and military occupations led to considerable changes over the centuries. …