Gonzaga Cycle: Federico II Gonzaga Defends Pavia

On 1 December 1521 Pope Leo X died, and the papal army in Lombardy began to come apart as many of its mercenaries went over to the French. The French saw their chance and attacked Pavia, where Federico II Gonzaga had dug in with what was left of the pope's troops. Despite heavy fighting they could not take the city, and the defence in 1522 brought the young Gonzaga recognition and fame. Tintoretto, painting around 1579/80, stages it like a play. At the right edge a tent cloth hangs down and frames the view of the fighting, the way a curtain frames a scene. Pavia stayed on the front line. Three years later, in 1525, the French king Francis I was taken prisoner in a battle outside the same city.