BOLOGNA: The three arrows of house Isolani...
BOLOGNA: The three arrows of house Isolani...
The gallery of Corte Isolani connects Palazzo Isolani on Via Santo Stefano with Casa Isolani on Str. Maggiore No. 19 through a series of cosy courtyards.
The latter is characterised by an impressive portico supported by nine-metre high oak beams on which the third floor rests... and it is under this portico, thanks to the mysterious presence of three arrows stuck in it, that stories and legends have been born.
The versions of what happened are of the most varied and imaginative.
The most famous one tells of a beautiful noblewoman accused by her husband of adultery:
Explanations and clarifications were to no avail, because the husband, blinded by rage and jealousy, hired three archers to commit the murder that would repay the wrong suffered.
The cunning woman, in order to save herself, devised an effective ruse and decided to remove her clothes at an opportune moment, remaining naked before them.
The archers, taken by surprise, could not resist the mischievous stunt and shot the three arrows in the wrong direction, which lodged in the now famous sub-porch of Casa Isolani.
Today, as you pass by, you always find someone with their nose in the air, amused, looking for the arrows...the real challenge is to find the much more difficult third arrow that is very well hidden from the eyes of the seeker.
We thank the following sources for the information gathered, and invite you to further inquire:
Photo references:
ceiling arrows
Ph: https://initalia.virgilio.it/le-tre-frecce-di-corte-isolani-18692
island court
Ph: EvelinaRibarova, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
photo bologna
Photo 103966110 © Olgacov / Dreamstime.com
