Rustication and refinement: Palazzo Te, Mantua

Giulio Romano's facades at the Palazzo Te in Mantua are only the most public expression of his mannerism. Enclosing the elaborately decorated narrative sequences of internal rooms, the exterior facade (above) and courtyard elevation (below)combine the use of refined orders of tuscan pilasters and engaged columns with heavily articulated rusticated surfaces and, on the interior elevation, the slipped triglyphs which hint at dissolution.