TJie Banquet 63 



The feast was held in the courtyard which occupied the centre 

 of the pubHc square adjoining the basihca. This square was 

 known as the Piazza dell' Arengo/- Place of Harangue, or 

 Forum, where in ancient times the people of the city assembled 

 to listen to their leaders, and deliberate on public questions. The 

 palace situated on this square (PI. 40; see p. 52) had been 

 burned down during the rule of Matteo Visconti I, and rebuilt 

 by him (1295), with the addition of a tower. ^'^ It was in the 

 court of this edifice-" that the banquet was served,-^ perhaps in 

 the marble loggia built by Matteo I in 1316 {R. I. S. 16. 698), 



^*Also called Broletto V'ecchio (Giulini 7. 336). The Broletto, or 

 Palazzo Arengario, at Monza, still exists. 



^' Giulini 4. 467, 772. 



'" Tiie present royal palace occupies nearly the same spot. The church 

 or chapel of S. Gottardo belonged to the old palace; its apse and beautiful 

 campanile (pictured in Giulini 5. 216), the latter dating from 1336, are 

 still to be seen in the Via del Palazzo Reale. The monument to Azzo 

 Visconti (1328-39), by the sculptor of the monument to Peter Martyr 

 (see p. 52), Balduccio of Pisa, which was formerly in S. Gottardo, is to 

 be seen in the Palazzo Trivulzio (it is figured in Giulini, opp. 5. 274). 



"^Giulini 5. 512. Corio has 'nella sua corte, sopra la piazza dell" 

 Arenga'; Annal. Med.: 'in Curia magna Arengi' ; Frag.: 'nella Corte, 

 sive nello Stallo suo grande per mezzo I'Aringo, sive Piazza del Duomo.' 

 Corte would here naturally be interpreted as 'courtyard,' but it seems 

 sometimes to have been employed for 'palace.' I assume that it here 

 means the courtyard of the palace, rather than the interior of the building 

 itself. However, Aliprando, who wrote his Chronicle of Mantua nearly 

 fifty years after this event, and who must therefore be used with caution 

 (for example, he dates the wedding in May, 1366), speaks of the hundred 

 principal guests as banqueting in one hall (sala), while the rest were 

 accommodated in other halls, since there was not room in a single one 

 for all. Aliprando adds certain particulars, which are at least well 

 invented, though we have no confirmation of them save such as may be 

 gathered from the customs of the time. At the beginning of the feast, 

 there was a blast of trumpets which made conversation impossible. Then 

 the sewers, Galeazzo (wrongly Jovius, p. 60, above) on horseback at their 

 head (this hardly suggests indoors), first bring wine and confections, and 

 then proceed to the kitchen to serve in the courses. Violante was first 

 served by a sewer of noble blood on horseback : 



Quello barone 

 Che lo taglier de la sposa portava 

 A caval gia. 



Aliprando often varies from the other chroniclers with regard to 



