Room of Mottos

The “Sky-Blue Bedroom” and the “Yellow Bedroom” originally formed a single, harmonious space known as the “Hall of Mottos.” They acquired their separate names following eighteenth-century renovation work which involved installing a partition wall, lowering the ceiling, and covering the walls with a layer of whitewash.

Recent restoration work carried out in the so-called “New Rooms” has helped restore part of this wing of the palace to its original appearance, partially uncovering the original frescoed wall decorations. Although incomplete, they reveal architectural panels imitating marble, with elegant floral borders, alternating with pilasters topped with quadrangular capitals.
Furthermore, on the walls, the anonymous artist painted striking theatrical masks, festoons, and the coats of arms of the Arese family.
In the upper part of the former “Hall of Mottos,” what remains of a projecting cornice decorated with shell motifs reveals a series of cartouches containing mottos, which are now unfortunately almost entirely illegible. Two larger cartouches are also present in the centre of the two shorter walls, surrounded by elaborate moulded frames adorned with crowns and botanical garlands. The theme of these writings is love, which can be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, it could be a general tribute to Italian literary works, perhaps linked to the education and studies undertaken during those years by the young Giulio II Arese, or to the transformation of these rooms into a library, and, on the other hand, it might represent a posthumous tribute to the boy, who died in 1665.