The painting of the façade of the Mazzanti Houses was first carried out to protect the wall surfaces from atmospheric agents: its use as a decorative method started later. The initial decoration of the building took place before the Mazzanti family took over and was followed by the
more substantial decoration desired by Matteo Mazzanti. Matteo Mazzanti turned to the Mantuan painter Alberto Cavalli, a pupil of the better known Giulio Romano, who at that time was the court artist of the Gonzaga family in Mantua.

It was in the years 1532-1537 that the new owners asked Alberto Cavalli to paint the façades of the building. On the walls, already frescoed with fake architecture, the Mantuan painter added the
Allegories of Ignorance, Prudence, and Envy; on the corner structure he added those of the Struggle between Giants and Providence, to which was added, towards Corso Santa Anastasia, a Laocoon (now
disappeared).

On the façade of the Mazzanti Houses, it is possible to observe the marble slab on which Matteo Mazzanti had the following words engraved (translated from Latin): Math(eus) Mazza(n)tu(s) /patriae
ornamento/sui et suorum/ac bene guberna(n)tiu(m)/comodo f(ieri) i(ussit)-- "Matteo Mazzanti ordered to take care of the decorum and profit of the homeland for its good and its governors". The cycle of frescoes consists of five fields and within each field a specific theme is
developed. Starting from the left:

• Providence scatters her gifts / La Fortuna / La Caritas: in the first field a female figure is depicted. There are three hypotheses about her identity: some believe her to be Providence, others
  Fortuna, others Caritas. Surrounding this female figure are graceful putti dropping wreaths, bags full of money, and other goodies towards the people who have gathered in a large crowd;

• The Law that avenges crimes: the scene portrayed in the second field depicts a giant holding tight another giant to a tree with ropes, while a third is crushed. According to some people,
  the defeat of the giants is to be understood as a victory over brutality and disorder; for others, it is the “Vitio” that binds and tempts the virtuous;

• Envy: in the same field we find Envy; she is represented as a gaunt, old woman, full of wrinkles, with a decadent appearance and expressing a restless state of mind. The identification with
  Envy mainly derives from the bag that the woman holds under her arm, from which emerges a tangle of snakes vomiting poison;

• The good government protecting the city: in the third field, a female figure of colossal dimensions flies above the city of Verona, which is depicted under her feet; it seems to be a
  necessity to protect the city, given that in those years the vision
  of two comets had caused great fear. This female figure, who for
  some people represents good government, for others the city
  itself, holds a card in her right hand on which the motto “Conserve” is written. This allegorical figure is an implicit invitation to the care and safeguard of the city, which must
  involve all citizens;

• Ignorance or Virtue: in the fourth field there is a blindfolded female figure, who does not face up to reality; behind her some putti tear out pages from books (the first expression of culture);
  for some people this female figure is Ignorance, for others Virtue, a beautiful and naive woman who, blindfolded, teaches many children, rich and poor, without regard or distinction. On the far right of the pictorial cycle is the painted inscription with the name of the sender;

• Laocoon: the fifth field showed the now illegible Laocoon. According to the literature, the Laocoon was originally depicted trying to free himself from the snakes that were biting his head. This figure was accompanied by the inscription “Iusto iudicio”: divine justice to punish disobedience.