The name of the building comes from the phrase 'schivar la noia' (escape from boredom) and refers to its function, a place of leisure for the court. In 1465 Borso d'Este gave the court architect Pietro Benvenuto degli Ordini the task of converting and extending the building. In the same year the sculptor Domenico di Paris painted the stuccoes in the Sala delle Virtu' (hall of virtues), while the painters from Ferrara workshop, such as Francesco del Cossa, frescoed the main hall with the magnificent Ciclo dei Mesi (cycle of the months), one of the greatest examples of humanistic astrological culture. It includes texts by J. Bentini, M. Bertozzi, W. Cupperi, C. Di Francesco, V. Farinella, M. Folin, F. Frisoni, V. Gheroldi, M. Toffanello, R. Varese, G. Venturi. It features photographs by A. Ghirlandini. The text is in English and Italian. "Mirabilia Italia" is a unique series.It owes its existence to an innovative and ambitious project: an atlas of the great monuments of Italy that will display them in all their details, from the best known to the least. This series represents a completely new way of documenting art.
"Mirabilia Italia" provides a guided tour of each monument, fully and accurately explained. Each atlas contains hundreds of colour photographs, arranged in a precise topographical sequence and accompanied by diagrams showing the exact location of each detail.The atlas is complemented by a volume of texts edited by the premier scholars in the field, consisting of critical essays and descriptive notes. Essays examine the monument from the art-historical point of view, and record the alterations it has undergone over time. Descriptive notes analyse the content and significance of the images. Extensive cross-references link the essays and notes to the images, facilitating consultation of the work. The General Editor of "Mirabilia Italia" is Salvatore Settis, Director of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa.