Tè, Palazzo del

A palace near the city of Mantua in northern Italy, built 1525–35. It was designed and decorated by the Italian artist and architect Giulio Romano for Federico II Gonzaga, marchese and (later) duke of Mantua. Its design marked a rejection of the order and restrain of classical quattrocento architecture in favour of dramatic effects. The most daring of its decorative features is the Sala dei Giganti (Room of Giant), which Romano painted from floor to ceiling with frescoes of the Fall of the Titans, a spectacular work showing over-lifesized giants being crushed by falling columns and masonry.