Vespasiano I Gonzaga had a lot going on for him; he was a duke, he had an awesome name, and if this statue of him is realistic, he was a total hottie. But was he satisfied? Nuh uh—Duke Hottie Gonzaga wanted his very own ideal city, so in the mid 1500’s he commissioned Sabbioneta.

Sabbioneta is a textbook Renaissance ideal city. It is surrounded by defensive walls and has an orderly street grid.

Our bus dropped us off just in time to hear the 10am church bells.

While Sabbioneta does have a lovely church and synagogue, the vibe here is totally secular lookback to the classical era. Possibly Duke Hottie Gonzaga fancied himself a philosopher king, or maybe he just wanted a town that was the height of fashion. Either way, Sabbioneta is outstanding (and shockingly well preserved).

It was true in 1590 and it is true now: you can’t have an ideal city without a theater. Duke Hottie hired Vincenzo Scamozzi to design it, which was a really smart move because this was not going to be an easy job. Scamozzi had some experience with theaters, having finished off Teatro Olimpico when Palladio died before its completion.

Sabbioneta is tiny, and the lot available for the theatre was long and narrow (the opposite of the wide and shallow Teatro Olimpico). Duke Hottie wanted the theater to be in the center of town to signify its importance, and this resulting building is heavily classic on the exterior, with a Latin quote about learning from the ruins of Rome on the façade, just to make really sure everyone understood that the wisdom of the ancients was being strenuously consulted.

Here I am wondering about who managed the box office and did the marketing for plays in the 1590’s.

It was hard to get photos of the statuary, but there’s (naturally) a classical them. See Zeus holding up a thunderbolt? Behind the statues are paintings of people watching the play behind a trompe l’oeil balustrade.

Scamozzi’s permanent stage set is sooooooo cool. It isn’t the original, but it was reproduced precisely from his plans.

Because of the narrow stage, the view of the townscape is a single perspective.

Something about that townscape…is familiar.

Step outside the theater for a minute and…GAH! There it is!

You build an ideal city—and an ideal theater in the center of the ideal city—with a permanent scene of the ideal city on the stage of the ideal theater. People, this is what the renaissance is all about, the self awareness.

And the hot Dukes.

How we got to Sabbioneta: bus from Mantua.

Where we slept: Residenza La Torre  Price: €104 for an apartment.  Recommended: yes