Chapel V - The Nativity of Mary ("Chapel of the King")

The chapel was commissioned by Vincenzo I, Duke of Mantua and Monferrato, whose coat of arms was later replaced by the effigy of the House of Savoy. The interior scene shows an episode of daily domestic life: St. Anne is in bed, just after giving birth, a maidservant is giving her an egg. Three other maidservants are taking care of Mary's first bath. Four Prophets are housed in niches: David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, attributed to Melchiorre d'Enrico the Elder and Michele Prestinari and his son as documented by the payments made in the years 1592-1593.

The frescoes on the side walls were renewed in 1637 thanks to a decorative campaign ordered to Giovanni Antonio Veglia from Asti and tell the stories of the Birth of Acsa, daughter of Caleb, and the Birth of Mikal, daughter of King Saul, which connect the Virgin Mary to the biblical heroines.

In 1715, when the Savoys took over from the Gonzagas, the chapel was adapted to the new situation: Vittorio Amedeo II ordered the replacement of the oldest staircase with the current baroque one. In 1859, Vittorio Emanuele commissioned the marble altar, the internal flight of steps and paid for some reconstructions of the frescoes, created by the artist Martini di Robella.