Palazzo Schifanoia, north wall, month of June: above “Triumph of Mercury”. This divinity was traditionally placed to protect trade, as documented by the presence, on the right and on the left, of merchants wearing precious clothes. The reference is strengthened by the presence of the lifeless body of Argus who was beheaded by Mercury himself on behalf of Jupiter in order to free Io, the nymph transformed into a mare by Juno (as narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses).In the centre "the sign of Cancer" around which we find the first decan identifiable with Orion, the following one consisting of two women, the second of which, the seated one, seems to be able to be identified with Isis, while the third is part of the constellation of Argos: the features of the latter seem to refer to Canopus, a helmsman from Argos, who died from a snake bite.Below, in the landscape and buildings of the backdrop of the Borso scene, the aim was to recognize the villa of Belriguardo and the surrounding area, identifying in the scene on the left Borso d'Este who there receives the title of Lord of Ferrara from Agostino Villa, judge of the Wise.Frescoes attributed to Ercole de' Roberti or to the so-called wide-eyed Master (1468-1470).
