Painting gallery
- "I have created a small gallery in the Villa. Monteriggioni's artists are always welcome to study them."
- ―Mario Auditore to Ezio Auditore about the Villa's gallery in 1476.[src]
The painting gallery was an area where paintings purchased by Ezio Auditore were stored and showcased. A gallery was first present in the Villa Auditore, and later another was created in the Tiber Island headquarters.
Villa Auditore
At some point during 1454, Mario Auditore created a painting gallery in the Villa, taking advantage of his brother's connections in Florence to import fine art.[1] From 1476 to 1499, his nephew Ezio gathered pieces of Renaissance artwork from art merchants in several different cities during his travels, which were displayed in the villa's painting gallery, many of them being the works of various prominent artists. However, the paintings were either destroyed or stolen by the Borgia following the siege of Monteriggioni in 1500.[2][3]
Tiber Island headquarters
After having obtained an old storeroom on Tiber Island from Fabio Orsini, the Assassin Order re-decorated a room to house a painting gallery. Ezio once again gathered paintings, sold by art merchants throughout Rome - all of which were the works of Raphael. Additionally, portraits of primary assassination targets were displayed in the same gallery.[3]
References
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