The structure of the building was recently brought back to its original antique splendor during one of the many important restorations throughout the centuries.

The Splendor

Built by Francesco II Gonzaga, the Palace was destined to hold the great works of the "Trionfi di Cesare" (Cesare’s trophies), by Andrea Mantegna, and to become the private residence of the prince’s amusements. Situated in the middle of the city in an area adjacent to the Te island and to the horse stalls built some years before, San Sebastiano was characterized already before for its presence in a great lodge open to the north that housed the theatrical plays organized during the period of Carnivale.
Apart from the paved courtyard, the Mantegna House has rich gardens with labyrinths of bushes and cedar and orange plants.

The Decadence

Since the end of the 500s, the history of San Sebastiano Palace was extremely tormented.
During the 600s, the building was still in use but eventually became abandoned. The trophies were sold (today at the Hampton Court in London) and Vincenzo I Gonzaga removed some precious gilded ceilings in order to decorate his new apartments in the Duke’s Palace. San Sebastiano started to be occupied only by the occasional visitor or by Gonzaga military personnel. In the following centuries, emptied of all precious furnishings, it became a prison and barracks.
In the 900s, the Palace met another form of deterioration, victim of urban reorganization that mutated and compromised the structure. A part of the building together with the antique Porta Pusterla was demolished at the beginning of the century in order to make way for a passageway of cars. The gardens were re-proportioned in the 20s and 30s to make way for condominiums.

The Restoration

Inside of the Museum it is possible to see the evolution, the decadence and the restoration of the Palace by using 3D multimedia reconstructions and the elegant drawings “a china” by Guglielmo Calciolari, partly reproduced here in the photo gallery.
In this way, the visitor will be guided to the discovery of the atmosphere of San Sebastiano Palace, conserving the signs of history within its walls so as to offer a living testimony of Mantova’s various fascinating forms of the past.