Frescoes with horses

They proudly portray the horses of Duke Enrico Pandone, symbol and instrument of his prestige

The cycle of frescoes, perhaps attributable to a Neapolitan workshop, portrays the horses owned by the Count of Venafro, Enrico Pandone, and covers the walls of the rooms on the main floor of the Castle. 

From the painted epigraphs it can be deduced that it was completed in the 1520s. 

The technique used highlights not only the animals themselves, but also their various ornaments, and the pictorial cycle is characterized by the representation’s illusionistic effect, rendered through the effective management of the light that falls on the various figurative elements. 

Even the walkway on which the horses rest, inclined towards the observer, contributes to a clear effect of three-dimensionality and spatial illusion. 

The animals parade the walls like real illustrious men: their nobility is exhibited and legitimized by the presence of a painted inscription, which, for each of them, recalls the breed, the name, and the time of execution. 

In some cases, the names of the illustrious people to whom the horses were given as gifts are also reported, including Emperor Charles V. 

The cycle has large gaps and has deteriorated in several parts, perhaps due to the interventions of the Lannoy family, successors of the Pandones in possession of the fiefdom of Venafro.