In 1545 Marco Mantua Benavides was at the peak of his career and commissioned the sculptor and architect Ammannati to build for him ‘the Arch that he made like those of Rome’.
The central passage of the Arch is bordered by fluted Doric half-columns similar to Palladio's (the architect Palladio (1508-1580) and the sculptor Ammannati became acquainted in the circle of Mantua Benavides).
In the side aediculae are two life-size statues: Apollo on the left and Jupiter on the right. In the pendentives, two elegant Victories hold laurel wreaths and palm branches. In the centre, above the passageway, two putti hold a ribbon with the commissioner's motto: ‘ID FACERE LAUS / EST QUOD DECET / NON QUOD LICET’ (‘It is a praise to do what is right, not what is permitted’).
The Arch was greatly damaged by time and weathering, because it was built with the not very resistant sandstone from the Berici hills of Vicenza. In 2003, a conservative restoration was carried out by the current owners.
The Triumphal Arch
