Church of St Francesco

Built between 1604 and 1606 by Giulio Cesare Gonzaga, first Prince of Bozzolo, and intended as a palatine chapel and his own mausoleum. It is the work of the architect Zilio de’ Zilii of Sant’Ambrogio in Valpolicella. The facade features classical architectural elements, distributed on two levels, a large Diocletian window and a high classical triangular pediment, surmounted by five obelisks. There is no apse; the back wall displays precious black marbles and frames the symbolic sepulchre of the Prince, surmounted by an altarpiece of Jesus on the Cross with St Francis and Giulio Cesare. The painting is by Rome artist Gaspare Celio and can be dated to around 1605. The ceiling frescoes are by Andrea Seghizzi of Bologna, who painted them in 1666; the wall frescoes featuring lay subjects can be dated to 1798, when the oratory was closed to worship and became home to a constitutional circle.