Corte Spinosa, a historic agricultural estate in the Mantuan countryside and originally part of the Gonzaga family’s holdings, has been revitalized through a new lighting design project. Curated by lighting designer Giovanni Vezzani from Architetturaluce, the project incorporates recessed lighting solutions by Francesconi Architectural Light.
Part of a broader restoration effort led by architects Luca Giovannoni and Riccardo Forcellini, the lighting design meets the vision of the estate’s current owners, who have transformed Corte Spinosa into a private residence.
In this setting of historical significance and timeless beauty, light plays a key role in revealing the architecture’s depth and character, enhancing the estate’s features through a carefully planned approach: “We used ultra-compact fixtures with high-efficiency LEDs and precisely calibrated color temperatures to illuminate each architectural element. The interplay of light and shadow brings out the building’s three-dimensionality while ensuring every detail remains clearly defined,” explain architects Giovannoni and Forcellini.
The historical roots of Corte Spinosa in Mantua
The story of Corte Spinosa dates back to the 16th century when the Duke of Mantua commissioned its construction based on a design by Giulio Romano. The Mantuan countryside is home to numerous estates linked to the Lombard nobility and the Gonzaga family, and Corte Spinosa stands out with its distinctive architectural structure: a collection of agricultural buildings and farmhouses arranged around a central courtyard, surrounded by fields, rows of poplars, and irrigation ditches.
The current layout of Corte Spinosa dates to the 18th century and remains unchanged, preserving its original spatial arrangement: a series of interconnected buildings facing a vast central courtyard. These structures historically served both residential and agricultural purposes, housing farming families and workers while functioning as granaries, stables, barns, and bread ovens.
In the early 19th century, the estate underwent an expansion with additional rural buildings, each marked by the coats of arms of their respective owners.
The lighting design project for Corte Spinosa
The new lighting design project for Corte Spinosa, developed by lighting designer Giovanni Vezzani from Architetturaluce, emerged from a preliminary discussion with the estate’s owners and architects Luca Giovannoni and Riccardo Forcellini. The shared goal was to use light to breathe new life into a site of immense architectural and historical significance.
“We were asked to enhance the estate’s architectural charm while softly illuminating the perimeter and the internal courtyard. The approach was straightforward since we could only work from ground level with recessed fixtures,” explains Vezzani.
The lighting solutions
“Lighting must be respectful, especially when dealing with historical landmarks like Corte Spinosa, where time and dedicated care have ensured its preservation,” says Giovanni Vezzani, introducing the recessed lighting solutions by Francesconi Architectural Light: Miniround, Miniflea, and Maxiflea C.
The three solutions stand out for their compact size, high-efficiency LED sources, and precisely calibrated color temperatures, which highlight the estate’s architectural details and add depth to its historic structures.“We conducted extensive nighttime testing on-site, and thanks to the brand’s versatility, we achieved all our lighting objectives using just three types of fixtures.”
The main façade was illuminated with Miniround recessed ground fixtures, featuring wall-washer optics to ensure a uniform vertical light distribution without imperfections.
For the portico and colonnade, the team used Miniflea, a narrow-beam (10°) recessed fixture, designed to highlight columns and capitals with a precisely controlled and subtle glow. The external walkways and paths of Corte Spinosa were illuminated with Maxiflea C recessed fixtures, which provide a soft grazing light, both decorative and functional, enhancing the texture and natural roughness of the estate’s stone walkways.
