Le cacce del principe. L'ars venandi nella terra dei Gonzaga

The noblemen's lifestyle was always marked by a habit - the passion for hunting - whose roots date back to a distant past, i.e. the Middle Ages, during which hunting was ritualized and turned from mere food resource to favorite pastime and amusement of the ruling class. The Gonzaga, lords of Mantua, were enthusiastic about hunting, a profane rite felt and lived as an expression of the princes' power and an instrument to justify his prestige. Right after the hunting, the rite went on with the joys of the banquet, with guests all around a sumptuously laid table, especially with the just hunted game, a reliable evidence of the ability and strength of the prince-hunter. Taking care of hounds and falcons breedings, of the woods conditions, of the whole water system was, thus, worthy of his government engagements: for the outstanding guests who were invited to take part in his coursing or hawking had to be persuaded of his power. Giancarlo Malacarne, researcher on Mantuan history, has carried out a rigorous scrutiny of archive documents, with the purpose of closely investigating the history of hunting in the Gonzaga territory, regarded as illustrative example valid for the whole courtly life, from the Middle Ages to the 16th century. This is why the book is accompanied by a rich iconography that counts the most beautiful and renowned painted and engraved works of those centuries.