Palazzina Marfisa d'Este

The Palazzina Marfisa d'Este is a Renaissance-style small palace, once suburban, and sometimes referred to as a villa, located on Corso Giovecca #170, just east of Central Ferrara, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Marfisa, born circa 1554, was named after one of the characters of the epic Orlando Furioso; she was legitimized by Pope Gregory XIII in 1573.

Upon the death of both her father and uncle, Ercole II d'Este, who both died without producing male heirs, she was unable, by law, to take on the lordship of any of the Este properties.

[1] The palace now presents a low, long brick facade on a busy street, and is not highly distinctive except for its prominent portal.

Its frescoed ceiling depicts a vine arbor with grapes, from which peer animals such as birds, squirrels, and monkeys.

[4] Supernatural and salaciously macabre stories regarding Marfisa are circulated; they were, perhaps, concocted to titillate the visitors who were not satisfied with mere Renaissance decoration.