Mantua Cathedral

It was rebuilt in 1395–1401 with the addition of side chapels and a Gothic west front, which can still be seen in a sketch by Domenico Morone (preserved in the Palazzo Ducale of Mantua).

Romano left the facade and perimeter walls intact but substantially altered the interior, transforming it into a form similar to the ancient early Christian version of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Notable characteristics of the Renaissance structure are the cusps, decorated with rose windows on the south side, which end at the Romanesque bell tower.

The cathedral is an overlay of three styles: the late Baroque facade, the Gothic left flank, and the Romanesque bell tower.

On the initiative of Bishop Antonio Guidi of Bagno, the present facade, completely made of Carrara marble, was built between 1756 and 1761 to the design of the Roman Nicolò Baschiera, an engineer of the Austrian army.

The commission for the work was given to Giovanni Angelo Finali (1709-1772), an artist from Valsolda long active in Verona, who was also the author of the statues placed on the facade,[3] along with sculptor Giuseppe Tivani.

On the tympanum are statues of St. Celestine, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Anselm, while on the side bodies, again from left to right, are those of St. Speciosa, St. Luigi Gonzaga, St. John Bono and Blessed Osanna Andreasi.

[5] It also contains a painting of Saint Margaret by Domenico Brusasorci (1552) Also on the left side is the shrine of the Crowned Virgin perhaps designed by Luca Fancelli around 1480.

The neoclassical case, made of carved and gilded wood, is derived from the earlier instrument of the first half of the 19th century and was designed by Giambattista Marconi; it has the exposition composed of three main reed cusps with horizontally aligned shield mouths.

Battle between the Gonzaga and the Bonacolsi , Domenico Morone, 1494
South side
Interior