L’invenzione dell’antico alla corte dei Gonzaga. Lelio Manfredi e la descrizione della villa di Lucullo in Tusculum

This paper focuses on the treatise Pallazzo di Lucullo, written in ca. 1515 by the humanist Lelio Manfredi, which reconstructs the villa in Frascati (ancient Tusculum) built for the Roman aristocrat Lucullus. The vernacular manuscript, dedicated to Isabella d’Este Gonzaga, Marchioness of Mantua, and preserved in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, testifies to Manfredi’s antiquarian interests. First of all, the essay investigates the ancient and modern sources used by the author, dedicating particular attention to Varro’s description of his own villa of Cassino, which served as Manfredi’s model for the reconstruction of the Lucullian villa. The Pallazzo di Lucullo is then framed within the context of architectural treatises written by men of letters in the sixteenth century – such as Alvise Cornaro and Giangiorgio Trissino – and of the humanistic reception of the aviary, also admired by Erasmus and Giulio Giovio. Finally, the paper discusses the Pallazzo di Lucullo within the cultural context of the Gonzaga dukedom, where Manfredi lived for several years. By describing the ancient villa, the author presents himself as an artistic adviser of the Gonzaga, who were renowned patrons thanks to their important architectural commissions. Thus, the analysis of the Pallazzo di Lucullo sheds new light on the dynamics at this Renaissance court, promoting the study of the intermediaries who introduced the Gonzaga to antiquarianism and ancient architecture.