15th century house in Piazza delle Erbe, Mantova

This is a re-blip (with more substantial commentary) of a photo which was originally allocated an incorrect date.

The name Piazza delle Erbe originally designated a market for fruit, vegetables and herbs)
 
This house was built in 1455 by the rich Brianza cloth merchant, Giovanni Boniforte da Concorezzo.  Fortunately there is substantial architectural and historical analysis of the house available on the internet.

The house has its own logic.  It is very likely that the ground floor comprised the owner's business premises, with customers possibly being able to inspect goods outside under the shelter of the arcade.  Or perhaps customers were invited inside the ground floor premises.
   
The next two floors will  have been residential, and the attic was for storage of goods.  The window-like opening in the attic wall will have been accompanied by a pulley as the means of hauling up goods.
   
The ornate cornice on the right-hand window of the top residential floor is a little baffling, as otherwise it is the general quality of ornamentation on the lower residential floor (or "piano nobile") which looks superior.
   
The owner was a highly successful cloth merchant.  This helps to explain how he could have afforded to own a building facing onto one of the busiest market squares of Mantua.
 
A delightful example of Gothic domestic architecture.