The exhibition project " Banquet of the Gods", designed for the Horses’ Hall and the Cupid and Psyche Chamber at Palazzo Te, is part of the extensive program of cultural activities during EXPO 2015.
The project, result of the cooperation between the City of Mantua - Civic Museum of Palazzo Te, Virgilian National Academy and Foundation Mantova Capitale Europea dello Spettacolo, intends to offer a deepening of the theme of the renaissance banquet starting from the Cupid and Psyche Hall at Palazzo Te as visual and historical document in relation to the arrival of Charles V in Mantua, guest of Federico II Gonzaga (March-April 1530).
The Cupid and Psyche Chamber, the most famous place of the suburban villa, is the testimony of the beauty, skillfully depicted by Giulio Romano.
The Emperor chose this room for his private banquet on april the 2nd 1530, this place - with its famous walls dedicated to the preparations of the sumptuous wedding banquet for Amor and Psyche - allows to enfasize two artistic levels, the artistic invention (represented by the ancient myth) and the reality, referred to the presence of Federico II as in the frescos he commissioned.

The Chamber can be considered as an offer of total beauty, sprung from the genius of Giulio Romano; the paintings express his highest loyalty to the Emperor which during his stay in Mantova conferred the Prince of Mantua the title of Duke.The project’s contents, thanks to the cooperation of experts from different subjects as Ugo Bazzotti, Paola Besutti, Simona Brunetti, Roberta Benedusi, Giancarlo Malacarne and Giulia Marocchi, coordinated by the Director of Mantova Cityhall Culture Department Irma Pagliari and by Palazzo Te Director Stefano Benetti, supported by Elena Scardovelli, Catia Bianchi and Monica Benini will be offered to the public through different subsidies.
The location where the project will take place will be Palazzo Te: Horses’ Hall and the Chamber of Cupid and Psyche, where was set up the banquet in honor of Charles V April 2, 1530, will host the thirteen panels and the MultiTouch table; at the end of the visit, in one of the rooms of the so-called Napoleonic wing, will be projected a video of 8 minutes, an abstract of the 40-minute above mentioned video.The sequence of panels will be an in depth study of various aspects of the banquet - the ceremonial, scenography, dance and music - starting from the description of Charles V stay at Palazzo Te- the video will allow the visitor to learn the complex organization of the court event offered by images and sounds of the period.
A specific analysis will be developed thanks to the Multitouch table: the multimedial support will lead the visitor to the direct observation of Giulio Romano painting as a whole ( two walls of Cupid and Psyche Chamber) and to particular details of the banquet and the court life (for example the woman with hunting game, a cabinet with silver and crystal artifacts and musicians).