The castle is surrounded by fields of wheatThe castle in winter
The Malpaga Castle (Italian: Castello di Malpaga) is a castle in the communal territory of Cavernago, a village in the province of Bergamo, northern Italy. Its main features are the interior rooms frescoed by the Renaissance painter Il Romanino.
An early medieval castle had been in ruins after a raid in the 1440s. In 1456, the condottiero and nobleman Bartolomeo Colleoni acquired the ruined castle from the commune of Bergamo. He enlarged and enriched it not only as a military base for his troops, but also as a seigneurial residence, in the typical Italian Renaissance fashion.
The castle layout is square, surrounded by two lines of walls and a ditch. The first line, now disappeared, included the stables and the barracks. The walls are characterized by merlons. The castle's internal walls are almost entirely frescoed, although some of them have deteriorated or been vandalized. Some frescoes celebrate the 1474 visit of King Christian I of Denmark and the sumptuous hospitality given him by Bartolomeo Colleoni, including banquets, hunting expeditions and tournaments. They were commissioned by Bartolomeo's heirs around 1520-1530 to celebrate the family's most famous member, and are attributed to Il Romanino. On the first floor are 17th-century frescoes of lesser quality.
Aside from Christian I's visit, the frescoes also depict allegories, such as that of Silence (an allusion to the secrets which should be kept by the castle's personnel), and the idealized portraits of Colleoni and the king. In the courtyard, also attributed to Romanino, is the depiction of the Battle of Molinella (or Riccardina), fought by Colleoni in 1467 near Bologna. Another 15th-century fresco of the Madonna with Child, by an unknown artist, is found in Colleoni's private studio.
Bergamo is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Milan, and about 30 km (19 mi) from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como and Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Garda and Maggiore. The Bergamo Alps begin immediately north of the city.
Breno is an Italian comune of 4,986 inhabitants in Val Camonica, province of Brescia, in Lombardy.
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian condottiero, who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni "gained reputation as the foremost tactician and disciplinarian of the 15th century". He is also credited with having refurbished the Roman baths at Trescore Balneario.
Girolamo Romani, known as Romanino, was an Italian High Renaissance painter active in the Veneto and Lombardy, near Brescia. His long career brought forth several different styles.
The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Pavia. Built in 1396–1495, it was once located on the border of a large hunting park belonging to the Visconti family of Milan, of which today only scattered parts remain. It is one of the largest monasteries in Italy.
Buonconsiglio Castle is a castle in Trento, northern Italy.
Cavernago is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) northeast of Milan and about 11 kilometres (7 mi) southeast of Bergamo.
Cologno al Serio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northeast of Milan and about 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Bergamo.
Romano di Lombardia is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of Milan and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Bergamo. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on September 17, 1962.
Zanica is a comune (municipality) of around 8,804 inhabitants in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northeast of Milan and 7 kilometres (4 mi) south of Bergamo. Zanica borders the following municipalities: Azzano San Paolo, Cavernago, Comun Nuovo, Grassobbio, Orio al Serio, Stezzano, Urgnano.
The Matris Domini Monastery is an enclosed female monastery which hosts the museum of the same name, situated in the lower part of the Italian city of Bergamo. It houses a museum containing several medieval frescoes with religious themes.
The Battle of Riccardina or Battle of Molinella, fought on July 25, 1467, in Molinella, was one of the most important battles of the 15th century in Italy.
San Michele Arcangelo is a renaissance-style, Roman Catholic parish church located in the town of Antegnate, province of Bergamo, region of Lombardy, Italy.
The Visconti Castle of Trezzo was a mediaeval castle built between 1370 and 1377 by Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, at Trezzo sull’Adda, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It included a massive tower, 42-meter high, and a fortified bridge on the Adda river on a single arch with a record 72-meter span.
The Entombment of Christ is a 1513–1516 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto, now in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo. It originally formed the central predella panel to the artist's Martinengo Altarpiece at the church of Santi Bartolomeo e Stefano.
The Visconti Castle of Pavia is a medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built after 1360 in a few years by Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan, and used as a sovereign residence by him and his son Gian Galeazzo, first duke of Milan. Its wide dimensions induced Petrarch, who visited Pavia in the fall of 1365, to call it "an enormous palace in the citadel, a truly remarkable and costly structure". Adjacent to the castle, the Visconti created a vast walled park that reached the Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1396 by the Visconti as well and located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north.
The Visconti Rocca of Romano is a rocca in Romano di Lombardia, Bergamo, Lombardy in Northern Italy. It was built in the 13th century and expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Visconti and Colleoni families.
The Visconti Rocca of Urgnano, also known as Visconti Castle or Albani Rocca, is a middle age fortification in Urgnano, Lombardy in northern Italy. It was built in 1354 by Giovanni Visconti, Archbishop, and Lord of Milan. Today, it is the property of the Urgnano municipality.
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An aerial view of the castle
A dinner at the castle
A fresco with soldiers
Hunting scene
