Metadata: “Scalcheria” and Administration of the Ducal Palace in Mantua
Collection
- Country:
- Italy
- Holding institution:
- Mantua State Archive
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archivio di Stato di Mantova
- Postal address:
- via Roberto Ardigò 11, 46100 Mantova
- Phone number:
- +39 376324441
- Web address:
- http://www.asmantova.beniculturali.it
- Email:
- as-mn@beniculturali.it
- Reference number:
- 103
- Title:
- “Scalcheria” and Administration of the Ducal Palace in Mantua
- Title (official language):
- Scalcheria e Amministrazione di Palazzo Ducale
- Date(s):
- 1500-1999
- Date note:
- The entire fonds dates to the 16th-20th century. Jewish-related material dates from 1902-1905.
- Language:
- Italian
- Latin
- Extent:
- 328 boxes
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- This superfonds contains administrative files related to the expenses supported by the Gonzaga court, and later by the House of Habsburg. Documents related to Jews can be found throughout the fonds; for example, in folder no.1, there is a printed sentence of the Inquisition against the Jew Davide Civita (8 March 1736). In the 20th century the fonds was enriched with documents related to the monuments of Mantua and their upkeep. This final section contains folder no. 188 which includes a file about the Norsa Synagogue in Mantua (“Tempio israelitico Norsa-Torrazzo”), covering the project of its dismantlement from its original position in the Jewish ghetto (already abandoned by its Jewish inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century) and its reconstruction in its current location.
- Archival history:
- The Archive of the Scalcheria and Administration of Palazzo Ducale has been deposited, in various tranches, at the Mantua State Archives by the Mantua Superintendency for Artistic and Historical Heritage from 1976 onwards. The most recent documents are still with the creator. The arrangement of this archival collection at the Mantua State Archive began in 1983.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Palazzo Ducale refers to the group of buildings built in Mantua between the 14th and the 17th century by the Gonzaga family as their royal residence in the capital of their Duchy. The Palazzo Ducale covers an area of 35,000 square metres and includes Corte Vecchia, Castel San Giorgio, Domus Nova and Corte Nuova. The Scalcheria or Camera Granda was the widow apartment of Isabella d'Este located at Corte Vecchia; originally the Scalcheria was also the name of the office in charge of provisioning food for the whole Court. During the Austrian dominion the Palazzo Ducale was renamed Palazzo reale (Royal Palace); some of the Court's rooms were converted into ceremonial rooms. Abandoned in the 19th century, during the course of the 20th century the Palazzo Ducale was restored and transformed into a State Museum.
A detailed description of the Palazzo Ducale is available at http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/architetture/schede/MN360-00998/
- Access points: locations:
- Mantua
- Subject terms:
- Legal matters
- Synagogues
- System of arrangement:
- The documentation was found to be in a bad condition; therefore the collection has been reordered on a chronological basis and by competencies. Three main areas have been identified, each related to a specific period of time and administration: 14th-17th century (Gonzaga era), 18th-19th century (Habsburg era), Post-unitarian period (1866-1966).
- Yerusha Network member:
- Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center - Milan
- Author of the description:
- Samuela Marconcini; Centro di documentazione ebraica contemporanea; 2017