The northern Italian town of Guastella is taking a trip back in time to celebrate Ferrante Gonzaga, the Renaissance ruler and condottiere who brought it fame and wealth.
Guastalla is marking 500 years since the birth of the Gonzaga prince, who ruled the duchy from 1539 until his death in 1557, with an exhibition devoted to his life and work.
The show opening on Saturday brings together a series of objects, art, and political and administrative documents, relating the story of the man who founded the line of the Gonzagas of Guastalla.
Housed in the ducal palace commissioned by Ferrante and designed by his favourite architect, Domenico Giunti, the exhibit is the final event in a series of initiatives celebrating the soldier-ruler.
At the start of the year, the Italian postal service issued a commemorative stamp, which was followed by an exhibit entitled The Faces Of Ferrante, featuring photographs by different artists of a triumphal statue of Gonzaga.
The statue - the most famous representation of the prince and symbol of Guastalla - was created by Mannerist sculptor Leone Leoni and placed in front of the palace entrance.
Another exhibition looked at books and art from the 1500s, and there have been four conferences charting different aspects of life during Ferrante's era, including food and drink, art, and the relationship between war and art.
But the new show, which runs until December 9, is expected to generate the greatest interest, mapping out the life of Ferrante from his early stint as a page through his later years as a warrior, administrator, art lover, patron and ruler.
Born in 1507, the third son of Francesco II of Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este, Ferrante was sent to the Court of Spain at the age of 16 where he served as a page to the future emperor Charles V.
His time at court shaped the rest of his life, throughout which he remained unswervingly loyal to Charles V, becoming the commander-in-chief of the imperial army in Italy at the age of 30.
In 1534 he married Isabella di Capua, who brought him the fiefdoms of Molfetta and Giovinazzo, and helped turn Mantua into a centre of art and culture.
Five years later, he purchased the countship of Guastalla, which was formally recognized by Charles V in 1541.
Despite his many political and military glories, which saw him named papal governor of Benevento and later governor of the Duchy of Milan, Ferrante eventually fell from grace.
His harsh fiscal policy in Milan roused popular discontent and he was accused of misgovernment and corruption.
But though Charles V was forced to pull him out of Milan, he remembered Ferrante's loyalty, and eventually cleared him of all wrongdoing and offered him a higher post at his court.
Ferrante, however, preferred to retire to Guastalla, where he spent most of his remaining years, occasionally venturing out on important military campaigns.
He died on one of these in Brussels, in November 1557, and was buried in Mantua's cathedral.
