The sixteenth-century triumphal arch, perhaps erected by Orazio Malaguzzi, introduces a tree-lined avenue that leads to the Mauriziano: despite the renovations of the 17th and 18th centuries, the palace maintains the structure that links it to the Renaissance villa.

The internal pictorial decoration, dating back to after 1567, is influenced by Nicolò dell'Abate: in the "Camerino dei Poeti" ancient and modern painters are depicted, and scenes from the "Decameron"; in the "Camerino dell'Ariosto", according to the poet's studio tradition, the paintings allude to the landscape motif of the villa with garden.

In the last room, in homage to Orazio Malaguzzi, the story of Orazio Coclite is depicted, while the frescoes in the hall, dating back to the 18th century, narrate the family's events.

From 1522, following the fashion of "antiquarian gardens", various Latin epigraphs found nearby were placed in the garden and are now preserved in the Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia. The Municipality of Reggio Emilia purchased the Mauriziano from the Malaguzzi family in 1863.

Ludovico Ariosto spent his childhood at the Mauriziano, and returned there often: he maintained relationships with his maternal family of the Malaguzzi, and remembered those places with pleasure, as in satire IV: «I always long for your Mauricïan, the beautiful room, the nearby Rhone , loved by the Naiads in the shady seat."

At the entrance to the palace there is a bust of the poet.