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SCALA
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his guidebook proposes-
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MICHELANGELO
RAPHAEL
CARAVAGGIO
BERNINI
BORROMINI
Livia Velani
Giovanni Grego
SCALA
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I'M \//() 1 \KNI SI 14
WIK \N 16
swill !(;i() 1)1 (.1 I OKI I l( I .V)
Ml SiOI'iOCI 1 All NIINO 16
\ II I \ I \KNI SIN \ 40
ST. I'KTIKS 16
SI Pill Ks 43
VATIC AN PALACES
SISTINB CHAPEL 20 NAIK \N P\l\( KS 44
PAL LIM; CHAPEL 28 KAI'MAELSSTANZE 44
LOCiCJE 48
STUI-[iTTA-()[ CARD.
BIBBIENA 50
PINACOTECA VATICANA 51
Ml IWI \I)\MA 55
Contents 3
i
f
CARyWAGGIO
GALLERIA BORGHESK
58
60
1
CASINO DELL'ALRORA BERNINI 80
OR CASINO LLDOVISI 64
PIAZZA NAVONA 98
Ackiiou IcdLinicnis
llicy supplied.
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Villorio
111
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Michelangelo Buonarroti
Caprese Michelangelo (Arezzo) 1475 - Rome, 1564
1488, at the age of only thir- and remained there until 1501. It was in
teen, Michelangelo was already Rome that he was given the opportunity to
ularly fond of Dante and made great ef- of the tomb" and of his life. An endless se-
forts to have his mortal remains brought ries of rejections, changes of mind and
back to Florence, offering to carve his new designs tormented him throughout his
tomb at no charge. At the age of fifteen he life, leaving him deeply embittered. His
was taken under the wing of Lorenzo the dream was to find a harmonious fusion
Magnificent, who paid his expenses and of the arts in a continuous flow of move-
gave him a grant of ment, and this found
five gold florins a its fulfillment in the
month. Compared pictorial decoration
with the total of twen- of the ceiling of the
ty-four florins paid to Sistine Chapel.
Medici gardens and showed a keen inter- construction of the New Sacristy in the
est in the masterpieces of Giotto, Masac- Florentine church of San Lorenzo, to be
cio and Donatello, concentrating his atten- used to house the tombs of the Medici
tion on the human figure. In secret, he work on the
family, and in 1524 he started
studied cadavers in the pauper's hospital Biblioteca Laurenziana. In Rome the Last
of the monastery of Santo Spirito, drawing Judgment was commissioned from him by
on the anatomical knowledge of the Au- Clement VII, but only painted later on,
gustinian fathers. Four years after Loren- during the papacy of Paul III Famese.
zo's death, which occurred in 1492, "[...] Finally, he also took on the onerous task of
he set off for Rome, [seeing it] as a very directing the construction of St. Peter's,
broad field in which everyone could show erecting the Doine that he dedicated to the
his good qualities [...]" (Condivi, 1553), Madonna and the people of Rome.
Poriii Pill.
A
Mkhclaiujclo
work of
clukvuiiv b\
ar-
thai
RciiaissaiKC lo the
barix|iic. uilli the
.1 HUOM.I
l"li>ronc( iHituaicI tlirusliiiLi
Hues coiiliasiinLi
1 ion's [x?rs|vcti\c.
the \iuiishing po'ml o[' what was then via Pia, crealiiiii a new and
spectacular vista. This idea was to be taken up again during the
urbanistic reorganization of the city at the end of the century,
when obelisks were placed at the focal points of the road system.
Built lor Ascanio Slor/a in l.^(>4. this cliajvl IxMongs lo the iallei-
Laterano
become
Tepidarium
a den of
(Old Sacristy)
Annunciation, 1555
thieves, was converted into the church of Santa Maria degH
Picture painted after a
Angeli. It took its name from the vision of the Virgin sur- drawing by
rounded by angels that had appeared in a dream to the Sicilian Michelangelo by
priest Antonio del Duca, who implored the pope to consecrate Marcello Venusti, who
produced a solemn
the site. Michelangelo did not make the slightest change to the
and accurate
still intact hall, leaving the ancient architecture as it was and interpretation of the
just raising the floor and building the ahars on it. master's sacred
The structure was altered in 1749 by Luigi Vanvitelli who, on image. Marcello
Venusti was one of his
the orders of Pope Benedict XIV, built a chapel there. He
best-known pupils
added a transept to the single nave with no aisles and opened a
who specialized in
new entrance to replace the previous one, which had faced to- copying his work.
ward the place where the railroad station now stands.
Miche-langelo also constructed the large cloister of the Museo
delle Terme, where he is said to have planted the old cypress
that is still visible next
to the fountain.
(1516) and lounh After the pope's abrupt about-face. Michelangelo fled \o llo-
(1532) design lor Rome until three \ears later, when
reiice. lie did nol return to
Julius II's tomb.
he accepted instead the commission to fresco the Sisline
Chapel, whose imaginative power and architectural and
sculplinal effect echoed llic design foi- the lomb.
The ivxised designs ilial he piodiiced in 1513. 151b and 1532
1
Michelangelo 1
Leah Rachel
The flight of steps to the Campido^lio and. on the left, the staircase of Sanla Maria in Aracoeli
/*/ o/'//?^ square gelo, who was also responsible for the structure in the Sale
dei Conservatori used to house the fragments of the Fasti
Santa M \ki\ in
Consulares et Triitmphalcs, discovered in 1546.
Ak\( oil I
into his own home to give it a flatter and more conventional appearance. The
look after him when "Palazzo Nuovo" on the left was designed from scratch and
he wa.s dying.
completed in the se\ cnleenlh century by Giacomo del Duca.
3
Michelangelo 1
Palazzo Senatorio
T T TTT tit
'
t^lt con\ and the second
and third lexeis
inleinal court\ard.
o\' the
ll
i.ni
vKm
fi^^i mim
Michelangelo 15
Bramante, Tempietto
di San Pietro in
Montorio, 1502
16 RUMI . WUHRh TO I IM)
Agesandcr, Pol\dorus
and Alhcntxlorus o\
Rhodes, luiocoon aiui
His Sons Wrvslltni^
wilh ihf Serpent.
1st centiir\ B.C.
I si ccnlur\ AC
VaIK AN
MusRO Pio-
Clhmi-mino
Lii()C()(")n
A masterpiece oi'
and his sons Polydorus and Athenodor- pomp to lay the first stone of the new
us, it is not carved out of a single block, basilica of St. Peter, and the time the ag-
as was initially believed. The discovery ing Michelangelo took over the constmc-
caused a great .sensation and aroused in- tion, following the death of Antonio da
credible interest among both artists and Sangallo the Younger in 1546, forty years
the general populace. Acquired by Pope had passed. The work was plagued by
Julius II. it was set up in the courtyard patronage and corruption and Michelan-
o\' the [belvedere, the first ever open-air gelo's first task was to combat this. To set
base as high above the ground as if it to the Madonna, whom he had always
were an altar, in the midst o\' a most venerated. He was faced with grave ad-
perfect pit. there stands the famous ministrative problems, due to the cor-
Laocoon. celebrated the world over, a ruption of his predecessors, known as
figure of great perfection and very life- "Sangallo's gang." In the dome he re-
like, the size of an ordinary man. with turned to Bramante's centrali/ed plan, in-
a hairy beard and totally naked I...]"' spired b\ the Pantheon, but eliminated
(report of the Venetian ambassadors the lower le\el and took as his model
who \isited Rome in 1.523). The ten- the \ertical thrust oi Bruiielleschi "s
sion of the naked body and the stiid\ dome. He got his nephew Leonardo to
of the muscles down to the smallest obtain the hitler's exact measurements,
detail made a great impiessioii on w hich he expanded by raising the drum.
Michelangelo, who atlemplcd to recon- On that occasion a couplet was dedicat-
struct the missing right arm. It was to ed to him. showing just how jealous the
remain a point of reference in his many Florentines were of their great artist:
paintings centering on the nude male //// off to Rome to make your sister
fiiiure.
MiCHELANGFI.O 17
Michelangelo's
design for
5/. Peter's
And so he created, in harmony with the church of Santa Maria di Loreto. After
rest of the architecture, what wouldcome his death they were completed by Gia-
to be known Rome,
as the eighth hill of como della Porta (1572) and Domcnico
built by man. The dome's base and drum Fontana (1585). Seven months later the
Picta, 1499-1500
Hu'ia. 1.^54. Miisoo
dell "Opera del
Duonio. tlorence
The sculpture was commissioned in 1498 for the church of
the kings of France, Santa Petronilla (later destroyed), by
the cardinal of Saint-Denis, who had become almost the
French ambassador in Rome and knew that his choice of sub-
for the Pieta, the Florentine banker himself guaranteed the qual-
ity of the execution, countersigning the statement that "'I...] it
Paleslrina Pieia.
will be the finest work in marble in Rome and no living master
c. 1555, Gallcria would be able to do it better." The sculpture is remarkable not
dell'Accadcmia.
Florence only for its great harmony and delicacy, but also as a mark of
Michelangelo's total break with tradition: his invention o\' the
tells us. "taking his chisels, he shut himself in w iih a lighl and
carved his name on the statue: Michael Angelus Bonaiotus
llorentinus faciebat" (the words are inscribed on the sash
HniiJunini I'lcld.
ISM. Castello over the Madonna's breast) as he had heard some people from
Slorzebco, Milan Lombardy boasiing thai il was the work of Cristoforo Solari.
MiCHELANGHI.O 19
Toinhsloiw of a
Soldier. Miisei
Capitolini, Rome
Caravaggio, Deposition in the Tomb, 1602-04, Leonardo da Vinci, The Viri^in of the Rocks (detail).
The iconography of the mother, holding was also to inspire Raphael's Deposi-
her dead son on her lap, is of Northern tionof Christ (Galleria Borghese, Rome)
European origin, but Michelangelo de- and Caravaggio 's Deposition in the Tomb
parts from the harshness of this model (Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome).
through his reinterpretation of classical His other versions of the same ihcmc
sculpture. In particular, the body of date from much later. The Rondanini
Christ with his right arm hanging down Pietci (Castello Sforzesco, Milan) was
to the ground is taken from classical his last work, executed between 1552
military iconography {Tombstone of a and the days immediately prior lo his
S'lstinc Chapel
Bible (roughly 41 by 13-5 meters). All that remains oftlie t)riginal fif-
three of the walls depiet episcxles from the life o{ Moses and Christ.
Tliey were painted in 14(S3 by the greatest ailisls of the day: Sandro
Bollicelli. PietR^ Penigino. Domcnieo Ghirlandaio (MiehelangekVs first
Roman empire. Constantine's Arch, ing had originally been decorated was
which appears twice in Perugino's Deliv- carried out at the behest of Pope Julius
ery of the Keys to St. Peter, where Christ II, who wished to continue the celebratory
hands over the symbol of spiritual au- program of the murals. At first the pope
thority to his first representative on earth, wanted just the upper archivolts paint-
provides a visual confirmation of this. ed, but Michelangelo persuaded him to
R()\ii . W 111 Ki ic) I i\i)
have Ihc whole ceiling decorated. He dect)ralion. with its imaginati\e struc-
began, in 15()X. with the figures of ture that subdixides and expands the
Prophets and Sibyls, so as to link the ex- space. The contrast is still more marked
isting frescoes with the new structure. w ith the \ast scale of the Last Judgment,
The "Scenes from Genesis"" in the pan- made up solely o{ figures and painted in
els of the ceiling run from the CreaticMi the same place b\ the artist in his old
to the Drunkenness of Noah and the age. as a sort o{ spiiiiual testament. I he
Separation of Light from Darkness original light and glowing colors of the
(starling frc^n the altar) and were com- paintings have now been rexealed after
pleted in 1.^12. The architecture of the the long and radical restoration to w hich
whole is the most strikiiiL! feature of the lhe\ were subjected, sometiiing that has
Michelangelo 23
Original Sin
Stirred a great deal of controversy over the visitor to make a direct, critical com-
the last ten years: begun in 1980, the in- parison.
tervention moved on to the wall with the The restoration work continues, with
Last Judgment in 1990 and was com- the aim of returning the frescoes by
pleted in 1994. In offering a record here Michelangelo's predecessors painted on
of the way the frescoes used to look be- the other walls to their original colors
fore restoration, the intention is to allow as well.
1
Ml SK) 1)1
('vroniMoNU.
NM'IIs
Marctllo \inu\ti.
Last Jiidiinunt
(after Miclu'lan^clo)
Michelangelo's pupil
Marcel lo Venusti has
left us one of the
versions that come
closest to the original
Famese collections.
The KcsuriTction of
the need to represent the .ludy,ineni. even if onl\ the initial
the Dead is part of phase of the resurrection o'i the dead, became e\en more
Luca Signorclli's pressing, in order lo illuslrale the terrible jnmishmenl the
famous fresco in
Church reserxed lor heielics. The contorted and luHKled lace
Orvicto Cathedral,
of Martin Luther has been recogni/ed. emeiging liom the
painted between 14W
and 1503. lower IVame of the fresco, at bottom left,
Artists began to copy it, and Michelan- lo and Alessandro Famese, who was to
gelo himself exclaimed "How many become Pope Paul III, had attended the
people will be driven mad by this work lectures of Nicolaus Copernicus, future
of mine!" The incredibly innovative author of the De revolutionihus orhium
composition, made up entirely of human coelestium, at a private house in Rome,
figures without any architectural frame- where he had come for the Jubilee of
work to support them, swirls in a com- 1500.
pletely new and disturbing cosmic The brazen display of so many nudes -
space. The movement and arrangement as many as 314 have been counted
-
of the bodies seems to echo the Coper- roused fierce controversy and led lo
nican vision of the cosmos, in which the them being covered up, twenty years
planets rotate about the sun, personified later, with drapery painted by Daniclc
by the youthful figure of Christ with his da Volterra. The order to do this was is-
solar backdrop. And in fact Michelange- sued by the Council of Trent on January
!h Rc)\ii . \\ HI Ki R) 1 i\n
One of the Elect St. John the Baptist St. Bartholomew An Ani^el
it. The choice o\' Voltena. who from then on was know n as
lano.
in some places this entailed radical alterations beinu made to
the fresco, as in the scene of St. Blaise and St. Catherine with
the wheel of her marl\'rdom (at top): Catherine was dressed in
Michelangelo 27
iiiMii/i III M r
rauli/wC/iapcL 1542-49
advaneed age. In Tact he eomplaiiied lo he had had built next to the Sistine
Vasari that "after a eertain age, painting. Chapel, echoes the restless and crowd-
and especially working in fresco, is not ed organization o'i space and the effects
an old man's art."' obtained in the /.asi ./u(/:.^nwnt.
Michelangelo 29
Domes
IN Rome
AFTER
Michelangelo
Rosato Rosati
(1559-1622)
San Carlo ai Catinari,
1620
*'<
\1 v
^
:r
Q. ^
ViUorio
4^
TonTe
Sifto ^ ... Vonte C^''
>..^ irl Vmierlo
^k
^^ifc GaribMi ^^^ ,.J 22
Piazza
Tanthe
r
FonCe
Talafiruj
^_
^^W
I
Raphael I
Urbino, April 6, 1483 - Rome, April 6, 1520
row" and strange portents shook the low countryman Donato Bramante as
Vatican Palace, "which came close to architect of St. Peter's (1514), he be-
collapse" (letter from Michiel to Anto- came, on Buonarroti's departure for
Porlniil
ofci Miin.
c. 1502
IllKs IkI\C
c
1 1 10
ailribiilcti
wovk io Pc-
iw'Smo as well as
N' lliilbciii. in\-
The mythical
animal came
to light after radi-
ographic exami-
nation and res-
toration in 1935.
Gaixeria I'm, \ I in a,
which freed the
Flork\( I
Michelangelo,
Libyan Sibyl, Sistine
Chapel. Rome
Sistine Chapel.
Michelangelo, Pieta,
St. Peter's, Rome
to the one in
commemorate her
grief over the loss of The sixteen preparatory
Palazzo Barberini
Ingres. Raphael and
La Foniarina.
Museum of" Fine Arls, La Fornarina (The Baker's Daui^/iter), \5\^-\9
Columbus
The portrait ol' *'a woman of his. whom Rapliacl \o\cd un-
til his death" (Vasari, 1568). Raphael's lo\er. known b\
i
r ..# il^
1^*
A
SM^
\4^x
j( f- m ^ lb
^^^L tM b-^'
^fc^^mr '
^^^^H ^K Wl- 1
V >'i)%
mz^^^ k ^yi
^-^0 '
Li^^JiP-
>^,^- ::\^ jUi pl ^
Other Works in
Palazzo Barberini
A( (ADIMIA
1)1 San Li ( a
Pai.a//()
Carpixina
PiitU) Holilin^^
a Fc'sioon
o\
FiIrcsct^
aLiiiici111
b> Ra-
A
A construction conceived in
by Raphael, who also prepared the
cartoons for the mosaic on the ceiling
its entirety
(;M LI RIA
DOKIA
^^^^v^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^ .^r^^^^^^^^^l PWIIMUIJ
Porlrait
oj Andrea
\(iv(r^cr()
unci A^^oslino
lU'dZKino (
'.^
K
1 S 1(^
'
1
'he subjects ot
\o he l\\i> laiiious
portrait o^ Raphael.
preserve their memory, either for himself or for one of his su-
periors, perhaps even the pope? What predominates in this
torical representation.
Sant'Agostino
Ollll K WORKS IN III) (JM I.KRIV PWII'HII .1 IN llll ( IIM'TIR ON (' AR \\ A(;(aO
Rapiiafi
Villa Farnesina
Raphael wrote to his friend and source must have been like to his pictures set in
of inspiration Baldassare Castiglionc. the Roman period. It was not until the end
who had admired the fresco commissioned of the eighteenth century, with the discov-
from him by Agoslino Chigi: "and I tell eries at Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabi-
you thai to paint a beautilul woman I have ae, that it was possible to admire the har-
to see many beautiful ones, on this condi- mony of those magnificent paintings. The
tion, that Your l.ordship should be the one wa\ that the movements counterbalance
to choose the best. Bui since good judges one another creates a festive w hirl around
and beautiful women are hard to find, I the figure of (iaiatea. who speeds on iier
make use of a certain Idea that comes in- charicM through the group of jubilant ma-
to my mind." Raphael had to rely on the rine deities. She turns her head to smile at
carvings on ancient sarcophagi in order to the love song that the ailless Pohphemus
imparl a sense of what classical painting is dedicating to her from afar.
"^^
i
42 R()\11 . W'UHRI- TO MM)
conceived such a Joyful setting opening work are so man\ that, so as not to re-
onto greenery as Raphael did. entrust- count them one by one. I will say only
ing its execution to his workshop. I'he that there are all those nature has e\er
ceiling, supported by magnificent arbo- produced in these parts |...| so that in
real festoons made up of all sorts o\' addition to other things. e\en the flow-
plants, is covered with mock tapestries ers of elder, fennel and other minor
representing the .scenes of the Triumph things are Irul} wonderful."
Raphael 43
St. Peter's
5 I - '
^ ^^4
':..%m^-~i,^,m^y..
the time Pope Leo X entrusted him with the task of pre-
serving Roman antiquities, hitherto regarded as no more than
sources of building material for new constructions. Having
been made the first ever conservator of artistic assets, Raphael
sent a "memo" to Leo X in 1519 that envisaged carrying out
a complete survey of the city's classical monuments. This
"memo" is the only tangible record of the enterprise that we
have, as it was intenupted by the artist's untimely death.
44 R()\n . Wmere to find
Vatican Palaces
For the new apartments of Julius II. who did not find the
rooms underneath, decorated by Pinturicchio for Alexan-
der VI Borgia (1492-1503). to his taste. Raphael designed an
ample painted architecture, with large lunettes on the walls
and panels on the ceiling illustrating the concepts of Neopla-
lonic philosophy.
School oj Athens
(detail), portrait of
Pythagoras Stanza della Segnatura, 1508-11
in 12b4.
The other lunette, depicting the Mccliny, of Leo I and Aiiila. uas
painted not by Raphael but b\ his pupils. The features of the new
pope. Leo X. who had just been installed in March 1513. can be
recogiii/ed both in a cardinal in the retinue and in the face oi' the
some of
The room in Julius IPs apart-
first he would not have lost his fine
and its decoration was inspired by his ties the nudes that he painted in the
successor, Leo X Medici. Along with room in the Borgia Tower (where the
the previous one, it is the room in which Fire in the Borgo was represented) fall
and grandeur that he understood how to terms of his own harmonious vision of
when his pupils Madama always follow the overall compositicMi drawn up b\
inherited the work Raphael.
that the artist had
The first loggia, executed in 151<S-1^-) and described as
already begun.
"RaphacTs Bible" because of the biblical scenes painted on
Raphael had tried to
paint an angel in oil. the ihirlcen small \aults. is based on a harmonious succession
as a new technique tor of spans. Ciiovanni da I'dine made the stuccoes, using the Ro-
working in fresco on a man technique of mi.xing fine marble powder with lime, on
wall.
the ceilings and the details o\' the inner walls. Festoons of
fruit and wreaths o\' acanthus. dccorali\c motifs drawn from
Abimelech Spying on Isaac and Rebecca (detail) Jacob's Dream (detail)
in the first and second bay. Each lunette contains four panels
painted with scenes from the Old Testament, except the last
C lipid Drawn hy
Dolphins. Casa dci
Vettii. Pompeii
Venus and Cupid on grotesques. Giovanni da Udine: "both were ama/.ed b\ the fresh-
Marine Animals, from
ness, beauty and quality of those works, thinking it a mar\ clous
engravings by Marco
Dante (c. 1516) thing that they had been conserved for such a long lime" ( Vasari.
and two precious niches into which the small square plan is struc-
Kapl kl uoiksliop. signed to liic cardinal by his prolcclor. Pope Leo X. The sub-
I'ortrcnl oj ardinal
(
Hihhiena. Galleria
jects are all inspired by themes of amorous dalliance with con-
Palatina, Morencc tinual cultural references of high Ncoplalonic significance.
Raphael 5
w%i^1^
%f^4i
dHHwV^^
PiNACOTECA VaTICANA
Resurrection
i Oddi Altarpiece
Resurrection, 1499
Thcoloi^iccil
\ iriucs, c. LS()7
and Charity, in a
head.
Raphael's great narralixe skill
Transfiguration, 1518-20
The future Pope Clement VII, Giulio finished by his pupils, though Vasari says
de' Medici, commissioned this work that Raphael painted it "without the assis-
for Narbonne Cathedral when he was bish- tance of anyone else." Sebastiano del Pi-
op of that city. Raphael executed it in com- ombo himself, writing to give Michelan-
petition with Sebastiano del Piombo, who gelo the news of his death on April 12,
painted the Raising of Lazarus. Thought to 1520, states that he had taken his own pic-
be Raphael's last work, it is not known ture for Narbonne Cathedral to the Vatican
how complete it was at the time of his and that it did not look bad in comparison
death, when it was placed at the head of his with Raphael's. It is said that Christ's face
bed. It is usually supposed that the bottom was the last part of the picture to have
part, with its more rigid composition, was been painted by the artist before he died.
54 R()\ii . Win Ki lo MM)
Montclucc CorofhinofL
1501/03-25
Tapestries. 1515-19
The Vatiean tapestries were woven in Flanders and Raphael was paid for the cartoons
supplied to Brussels on Deccmlxr 20. 1516 (the seven surviving cartoons, claimed
by some to be seventeenth-century copies, are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum
where they have re-
cleai"l\ apparenl in
these increasingly
\ l"'^'
lli^''il'i<-''il composi-
^ lions, which exalt the
Villa Madama
with the hanging
garden, fishpond
(peschiera)
and loggi
Villa Madama
Raphael's architectural work, influ- Tivoli. Designed from 1517 onward for
enced by Bramante, only partly sur- Giulio de' Medici, only the structure of the
vives in St. Peter's and Sant'Eligio degli internal loggia was completed by the time
and the design for Villa Madama, contin- Medici by the famous Humanist Maffei,
ued after his death by Antonio da San- were completed by Raphael's pupils,
gallo the Younger and Giulio Romano. Giulio Romano and Giovanni da Udine.
It is a fine example of the Renaissance vil- The instmctions given by Pope Clement VII
la on a rectangular plan, with two wings emphasized that ''they should be familiar
that embrace the central circular courtyard. things" and not "obscure things, which as I
Opening onto the surrounding countryside have said I do not want, but varied iuid taste-
and the city of Rome, it is set in a formal ful." The sense of variety conveyed by the
garden that was designed to fit in with the whole is due to the skill of tlie execution, the
architecture. Raphael made explicit refer- airiness of the architectural stmcturcs, laden
ences to the suburban villas of Tusculum with stuccoes and paintings in vivid col-
and Laurentum, described by Pliny the ors, and the niches filled with iuicicnt sculp-
Younger, as well as to Hadrian's Villa at tures, now scattered all over the world.
5(1 R()\ll . \\ 111 Rl !() MM)
Fountain oj llic Pcsclucra at Wla Madamo. mask with the Elcphani Annonc h\ (iu)\anni da Udinc
^ Bernini.
IKJ;^ Elephant
on Pia/za
della
Minerva
The clcpliaiil poiliaNCcI licic was vcit popular in Rome. Iiaxiiig _^. ^^* ;^'
Pictures
OF THE
i^^^HHHMH^^^'
Madonna
AND Child
BEFORE mi^^K^^^B^T ^^^^^UKKKKBt^^'-'
AND AFTER
Raphael mKKwi ..A .!^i^Mi
Garofalo 481-155^),
(1 I raiKKn 1450-1517).
Madonna in Glory, c. 1520, Madonna and Child, c. 1520.
Musei Capitolini, Rome Galleria Borghese, Rome
piazza
Tonte G''''
Umberto Tonte
Tonle
ravour p'c^zza
i
,,J^^""^
il ?in(ii
5l.,.^^^""^\
tonhna ^
'A
V
/
^^
\ViiU %rc
rdcffei
^
^
r
S. Giovanni
in JaC?ranc
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Milan, September 29, 1571 - Porto Ercole, July 18, 1610
life of the "accursed tablished between art and the new sci-
a
new
radical
to duels and brawls," change in style in his first major com-
is cloaked in almost missions from the Church and earning
complete mystery. himself a prominent position in Roman
Only recently have artistic circles.
the date (1571) and place (probably in "Iwas arrested the other day in piazza
Milan and not at Caravaggio, where his Navona [...] My profession is painting,"
family merely owned some property) of he stated at the proceedings instituted
his birth been established. against him in 1603 by the artist Gio-
There are just three facts of which we vanni Baglione, envious of his success.
are absolutely certain: Roman judicial It was on that occasion that Caravaggio
records from 1600 to 1606 tell of his made one of his few declarations of po-
many clashes etics: an "able
with the law, un- man" is one "who
til he was forced knows how to
to flee the city paint well and
after commit- imitate natural
ting murder, for things well."
which he was After his flight
condemned to from Rome, in
etry. The "mirror" portraits he painted the renewal of figurative art that took
for Cardinal del Monte, the young place that century. He died in a desper-
artist's first patron in Rome, between ate attempt to reach Rome from the
1595 and 1597, were unusual and fore- prisons of the Spanish enclave o^ Porto
shadowed the accord that was to be es- Ercole.
G ALLFRI A B()R(;HKSK
A
and a
\
;ai
bunch
luith
land o\
\s ilh
i\ \
o\ Liiapcs
;t
in is how
Ins liand"
Basket of I ritit.
troni tlic uiH'ksliop
C. 160(1 o\ ('a\ ahc! d"Arpinc),
which the Cardinal Giulio Cesarc Gigli's poem: "[...] Of fanciful and certainly
was an enthusiastic eccentric character / Pale in the face, and with / abundant
collector. Some of
curly hair / Bright eyes, yes, but deep-set... The great Pro-
Bruegel's Flowers
topainter / Marvel of Art / Wonder of nature / But then the
were painted
expressly for him. butt of ill fortune"' {La pittiira trinnfantc scritki in IV capiloli.
Venice 1615).
Madonna dei Palafrenieri (Virgin and Child with St. Anne), 1605
Also known as the Madonna with the painting, which was purchased im-
the Snake, it is the only picture mediately afterward for 100 scudi, as
commissioned from the "accursed opposed to the 75 Caravaggio had re-
painter" by the Papal Curia. Ordered as ceived for it, leaving his only known au-
an altarpiece for Sant'Anna dei Palafre- tograph on the receipt. Hung in the most
nieri (the pope's grooms) in St. Peter's, important room of sacred works in the
Caravaggio was paid for it on April 8, Palazzo di Borgo, it was not transfened
1606. It only spent two days in St. Pe- to the villa until 1650. The really sur-
ter's, as it was rejected by the cardinals. prising innovation is the light, which en-
The figurative innovations of the Virgin ters from the upper part of the dark and
wearing the low-cut dress of a woman unadorned room and illuminates the fig-
of the people and the completely naked ures dressed as peasants, which arc in-
Si Jrronit- in
MtJiUition.
Moii.islcrN. Moiiscrni
Death of.Marw the penitent saint, a very popular subject at the time, was seen
(detail) 1605-06 as a spur to greater spirituality among religious orders.
There is a close The light comes from intersecting directions, illuminating the
parallel between the skull and the saint's head with the same intensity. Once again
head of the meditating the dark and empty room accentuates the pla\ of light, which
saint and those of the
"picks out" the various objects all laid out in the same plane,
apostles, suggesting
gang. Ranuccio
share the theme of
T(Miimasoni from the loneliness o\
Tcmi. and. wounded, \()uth.
tied the city.
Caravaggio 63
1601-02 of Fcrdinando I
Urbino told him: "news has come from
To implore Christian de" Medici, and in the
Naples that the celebrated painter Car-
pity over his fate, the Judith Beheading
avaggio has been killed, though others artist used the theme of Holofernes (Galleria
say disfigured." the scream of horror, as Nazionale d'Arte
Casino
Ll DOMSI
I he i.lci}]ci]ls
/.oclidc. c. \>^)~
l/l, I-
ceiling CI I ill.'
Cardinal del Moiilc
\ llhl's pKIIU> Ildblk'.
was legate of" ihe
Fortune Teller.
over which lively
painted for the debates were held in the Camerino of the Casino Ludo\ isi. a
cardinal. meeting place for the brightest and most learned minds in the
Palazzo Barberini
Galleria Nazionale d' Arte Antica
artist's maturity. The pale colors of his youth are already giv-
ing way to deeper tones, as was noted by one of Caravaggio's
rivals: "[for] Michele is already beginning to strengthen the
dark shades" (Baglione, 1642).
The expression on the face of the youthful and blond-haired Ju-
dith is at once detached and compassionate at the ineluctability
Church ofSanlii uiii painted ihc 1\mi latcial picliiics loi the CY'iasi ("hajtcl in
Maria del f'opolo
Sanla .Maria del l\)pi^lo.
Annihale Carracci,
Assumption, 1604-05
whose masterpiece is
of the Galleria of
Palazzo Farnese,
painted at the
beginning of the
century. Annibalc.
nated in such a wa\ that lhe\ seem to project out of the painting.
Caravaggio 6 /
collezionh
Odescalchi, Romk
Conversion of Saul,
1600-01
Identified as the
probable original
version on panel for
the Cerasi Chapel, this
two-dimensional
spaces, along the lines
of late sixteenth-
century Mannerist
Con V^r^/on of St. Paul, 1601 painting, only to
arrive at a totally
unprecedented
The saint's blinding on the road to Damascus is synthe-
handling of space in
sized in an obHquely-angled composition, almost turning
the second version.
the layout of the Narcissus on its head. The light that plays
over the horse and the young centurion lying on the ground is
the divine one of Grace, and even glances off the head of the
groom.
-
Ml SI I r MMTOI IM
P\[ .\//() 1)1! C\)NS1 K\ MORI
.S7. John
I he Bit pi I si.
The pic 1 11 1 c
painted tor
MichckinizoKi.
Crt'olion oj Adam. Ciriaeti Mallei
Sistiiic ('li;i|X"l. Rome represeiils the
young sainl in
an A read i an
ni\ thological
selling, in which
his embrace of
ihe ram, symbol
ol" Chrisl and the
St. Pktkr's, Romk
Cross, touches
Michelangelo, Pieta, on the theme of
1499-1500
redemption. The
Still more refined is
anatomically ac-
the comparison with
curate represen-
the twisted limbs and
tation of John's
abandoned body of
the naked Christ in naked body,
Michelangelo's Pieta, twisted to hug
which must certainly
the animal but
have been one of the
with his smiling
great masterpieces
that Caravaggio face looking toward the observer, is a clear reference to
studied in Rome. Michelangelo's Nudes in the Sistine Chapel.
1596-97
There is another
picture of this popular
Camillo Doria
Pamphilj to Louis
XIV (today in the The Fortune Teller, 1594-95
Louvre). The work in
if not the original. man's ring while she reads his palm liial forms the content oi'
the work.
The sources tell us thai the painter persuaded a gypsy woman
to pose in iiis studio lor (his picture.
Caravaggio 69
The painting, much admired at the time for the classicism of its composition, has
been in the Pamphilj residence since the seventeenth century (Bellori, 1672).
The first sacred picture painted by the artist, who had by now entered the refined
and intellectual circles of his patrons, it hinges on an allegory of music, concealed
beneath the religious trappings of the scene. It alludes to the typically Car-
avaggesque theme of the exchange between youth and old age. The central axis is
the angel in white drapery, playing the violin and reading the score held by the el-
derly St. Joseph. Set slightly apart, the figures of the Madonna and Child recall the
the Martyrdom of
St. Matthew. As in the
Like the preceding one, this picture has always been in the
home of the PamphilJ family: ''he painted a girl seated on
a chair with her hands in her lap, in the act of drying her hair.
Domenichino
(1581-1641).
Susanna and the
Elders. 1603
Mattia Preti
(1613-99),
The Tribute Money,
1645
Misn M. Hi ki in
(dcslrovcd in a Tire
aharpieec depictini:
Matthew, which was
rejected because of
CONTARELLI ChAPEL
Scenes from the Life of St. Matthew
(1599-1602)
right, together with Christ, and lends the event a theatrical air.
"4 RoMl . WUhRJ, TO FIND ...
(14X6-1570). A/t;</()mi(;
del rarlnidcuu\)
her flesh is
reminiscent of some
of the artist's other
Madonnas, such as the
Sant'Agostino
Madonna di Loreio
or Madonna with Pilgrims, 1604
I
A comparison
between these two
paintings reveals the
same approach to the
Narcissus, 1598-99
or 1603-06
Book III). Making a complete break with previous interpreta- brocade provides a
parallel with such
tions, which depicted the passage from Ovid literally, the picture
lavish works as the
is based on the playing-card effect created by the reflection of
Penitent Magdalen in
the image in the pool. The hub of the composition is the knee, the Galleria Doria
caught by the light, over which the youth bends to look at him- Pamphilj, while the
self in the water. The picture was taken as a model by other fa- elegance of style is a
Jose dc Ribera.
Marlxrdom of
Si. Philip, c. 1639
Prado. Madrid.
In comparison with
Annibale Carracci's
Pieia. inspired by
Michelangelo, and Dc
Ribcra's.S/. /'/?///>.
PiNACOTECA VaTICANA
Caravaggio displays
complete assurance in Deposition in the Tomb. 1602-04
using the body as an
independent means of
This work is considered "'a Renaissance coniposilion. nia-
expression, just as it
was in antiquity and Jeslic, compact and noticeably less baroque tiian
Caravaggesque
Paintings
Orazio Gentileschi
(1562-1647), DmvJiv///?
Goliath's Head, 1610,
Galleria Spada, Rome
k^
A^7
^.r:^:
c-^.
25
Ar^enlina
Tonte i/5
Tcdafino
2 na
/ Piazza
Villa "Borak
S. G'manni
in- Jateranc
GiAN Lorenzo Bernini
Naples, December 7, 1598 - Rome, November 28, 1680
He December
From
7,
early childhood
he was familiar with
the activity of his fa-
ther, a well-known
1598. two centuries" (Baldinucci, 1682).
His relationship of mutual esteem with
Barberini, the great man
manist and friend of Galileo Galilei,
commenced
of
in 1617. Barberini
letters.
was
Hu-
the
Florentine sculptor author of the Latin epigrams on the
who had been work- bases of the Rape of Proserpine and
ing in Naples since 1584. Apollo and Daphne and it was he who
In 1606 he was in Rome
work on the
to held the mirror while Bernini sculpted
Cappella Paolina, which Pope Paul V his self-portrait in the David. Along
Borghese had begun to construct in with the great painter and architect
Santa Maria Mag- Pietro da Cortona,
giore. The preco- he glorified the
cious talents of the Barberini family
child, who was and policies, exalt-
helping his father, ing the magnifi-
attracted the atten- cence of the Church
tion of the pope and together with the
his nephew, Cardi- image of the "sun
nal Scipione Borgh- pope," prefiguring
Self-Portrait, 1622, Self-Portrait. 1640,
ese, who made him Galleria Borghese, Uffizi,
that of Louis XIV.
a prominent figure Rome Florence A man of the the-
in Roman artistic ater, painter and
circles at the beginning of the century. draftsman, he came up with bold de-
From an early age he studied ancient signs and improvisations. The "direc-
sculpture with the passion of a lover: tor" of a genuine school of his own, at-
"for the space of three years he remained tracting all the craftsmen of the time, he
shut up in the rooms of the Vatican from left traces of his genius all over Rome.
dawn until the Ave Maria [...] drawing Marrying in 1639 on the advice of the
all the rarest things and everything that pope, he had eleven children, to whom
was remarkable and unusual" (Baldinuc- he left, in the house at no. 1 1 via Due
ci, 1682). From 1623, the year in which Macelli (now commemorated with a
Cardinal Maffeo Barberini ascended the plaque at no. 12) the Truth Unveiled.
throne as Pope Urban VIII, until his This sculpture, now in the Galleria
death in 1680, Bernini played a role that Borghese, records the period when lie fell
has no parallel in the history of Western out of favor with the Pamphilj family.
^*^
Villa Borghese
cardinal in 1605.
Designed by Flaminio Ponzio - architect of the Cappella
Paolina in Santa Maria Maggiore - it was completed after his
CiALLHRlA BORGHHSE
1927-28.
This small bust, which the pope used to keep on his work
desk, is one of the first portraits executed by Bemini.
The artist's great skill and remarkable psychological insight
are already unmistakable and make the work stand out from
contemporary production. Compared with the later Bust of
Scipione Borghese (1632-33), which marked the beginning of
a more mature period in his career, it shows a shift toward a
more sumptuous handling of the image. Two identical ver-
sions of the latter bust exist, which Bemini carved over the
same period because the veining of the marble spoiled the
forehead of the first sculpture. The speed with which the artist
produced two identical works astonished his client, "leaving Bust of Scipione
the cardinal amazed and lost in wonder." Borohcsc. 163: >^
e
Anchiscs and
Asian ins
/ U'c'ini^ Trow
IhlS-i^)
Spiral contorlion
IN A Lliaraclcris-
lIIoiI il Is thought
I hat the son was
helped h\ his more
expert paren to
sol\ e the problems
posed h\ striietural
Rape of Proserp in ,
1621-22
4 A
points of view, and this rein
forces the pathos of the scene,
the abduction o{ the
daughter of the Earth goddess
(Ceres) by the god of the Under-
young
ancient manner.
Bernini 85
David, 1623-24
ty of famous
preceding versions
of David, by Do-
natello, Michelan-
gelo and Verroc-
chio, is cast aside
here: the anatomy
of the figure is Donatcllo.
twisted as it moves David. Bargcllo.
Florence
through space and
prepares for action.
The whole body
participates in the
challenge, which is
expressed in every
muscle, right down
to the tightly-clen-
ched lips and menacing expression on the face. With its gaze
fixed on the precise place where the sling is aimed, this face
^J^ ^.J
(i \l I 1 Kl \ HOKC.IIISK,
ROMI
much manipulation,
and the design for the
century concept of
royal nobility and Trulh Unveiled by Time, 1646-52
pride. Heroic
emphasized through
the choice of clothing,
papacy
buih i^iio the favade of
drapery and the St. Peter's in 1646 had to be deiiioiisiied because oi' its exces-
rearing of the horse sive weight, h is an allegory of the artist's hoped-for rehabili-
above the naturalistic
tation: an opulent and sinuous nude, like a Susanna by
element of the rock.
Rubens, it was left without the figure of Time, never complet-
ed b\ Bernini because of the man\ commissions on which he
soon found himself engaged again. Deposited in the Galleria
Borghese in \^)24, the statue had until that time remained in
Other
Masterpieces
IN THE
Galleria
borghese Federico Barocci
(15287-1612),
Aeneas's Flight from
Troy, 1598
Domenichino
(1581-1641),
The Hunt of Diana,
1616-17
88 ROMI . \\ HI KI. TO FIND
This work is one of the finest examples o\' the fusion oi' the
arts sought by Bernini. Conceived as a pictorial ensemble
on a grand scale, the light plays an essential role, unifying the
details and blurring the boundaries between sculpture, paint-
ing and architecture. The central group of the Ecstasy of St.
Comoro L Impel
Teresa cannot be separated from the rest and becomes the fo-
cal point of the complex architecture.
The mystical rapture of St. Teresa of Avila, described by the
Carmelite reformer in her diaries, is represented literally by
the artist, who accentuates the transport of her spirit and sens-
es. Amidst a mass of gleaming marble, which surrounds the
abandoned body, lifted up to heaven on a cloud, the swooning
saint is about to be pierced by the angel's arrow o{ divine
love. The natural light, entering from a concealed u indow. is
is materiali/ed in the gilt rays that pour down onto the group.
The polychrome marbles, painted ceiling and supernatural
whiteness of the marble figures help to create one o\ the cul-
minating moments of Bernini's scenography.
At the sides of the scene members of the Cornaro famil\. who
commissioned the chapel, look on from boxes, like an audi-
ence at the opera.
^H) RoMh. WjuKi. rc) M\i)
Installation of the
Dioscuri on Monte
Cavallo, 1657.
It was not until the
be used again in the form of the colonnade of St. Peter's, on Palazzo Quirinale
constructed during the
whose design the artist had been working since 1656. The cir-
pontificate of
cular interior, blocked in its expansion by the broad pillars Alexander VII. 1657.
that circumscribe the space, is embellished with polychrome and continued under
marble. The rhythm is dynamic and emphasizes the spectacu- Clement IX. 1668.
Santa Prassedk
^^
^- .j^ T^robably Bernini's first work, it is set on the
''=
X pillar in front of the chapel of San Zenone,
the most important Byzantine monument in
Rome, erected by Pascal (817-24) as a mau- I
with naturalistic
figures, rather than the
The work carried out for Palazzo Barberini (now the seat,
romini as his assistant, was the heir to Mademo's extensive of the definitive
activity in this field, where he had conceived this new type of layout of the gardens
at the rear, which
suburban villa. Bernini was entirely responsible for the interi-
commenced with two
or decoration, with the idea of the staircase-hall sequence: a
shell-shaped fountains
new version halfway between the spiral staircase and the clas- decorated with the
sical Roman one of a longitudinal flight of stairs between par- Barberini symbol of
the bee (now moved
allel walls. He also made a few changes to the exterior, such
to the corner of via
as the balcony facing onto via Barberini.
Veneto).
The elliptical spiral staircase with coupled columns under the
portico on the right is by Borromini.
Paul V ai ihc
beginning of the
sevcntccnih ccniun.
stands the house thai
Bernini lx>uj;ht in
at no. 12.
foreshadowing the o\' Bernini's many assistants: with the increasing number ol'
and replacing
his own. As
it
for the
with
The baroque restoration of piazza del Popolo was carried
out at the behest of Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1655-67),
facade of the Collegio.
who also suggested the construction of the twin churches. Santa
facing onto piazza di
Spagna, Bernini was
Maria di Montesanto (1662-75) and Santa Maria dci Miracoli
the advisor for the (1675-79), begun by Carlo Rainaldi and completed b\ Bcinini.
skillful modernization with the collaboration of Carlo Fontana. The s|xx"tacular hiNcnit oi
of the old building
the square, on the other hand, is a masterly work oi' cit\ planning
(1642-44).
carried out in 1816-24 by the neoclassical architect Cjiusep[->e Val-
ear molding which emphasizes the structure and the merlons, from which Bernini
tooic the inspiration
shaped like cuirasses on the outside.
for innumerable other
curved linking cornices at the sides. On the inside, his restora- nearby port of Ripetta.
Chigi Chapel
The magnificent
chapel on a central
plan, built at the
beginning of the
sixteenth century for
Agostino Chigi. a
famous Sienese
banker known as
"il Magnifico." is the
work of Raphael.
16^)4 by Carlo
Piazza dklla Minkrva
Fonlana on the orders
of Innocent XII.
Bernini's contribution Elephant Carry ini^ an Obelisk, 1 666-67
is still visible in the
subdivisions.
v*^
taste for naturalistic the coat of arms of Alexander VII Chigi. "^.,'
evident in
effects is
.\iii
-r^
ed by Ercole Fenata) supporting an Egypt- * <^A
in the imitation rock
m
^^^ .-ii
on the faces of the ian obelisk from the sixth century BC taken
windows and pillars, from the nearby Iseo Campense, a group of
^
examples of the temples dedicated to Egyptiiin cults, was a
contemporary fashion
later idea for the center o\' the square.
for ruins and fantastic
landscapes.
Santa Maria sopra
Minerva
Tomb of Maria
Raooi^ 1647-53
sepulchral monument:
a portrait carved in a bron/e medal-
lion, set against a fluttering drape
and The harmony of colors is
putti.
Diego Velazquez,
Innocent X, 650, 1
Santa Maria in
Aracokli
Plaque in memory of
Carlo Barberini, 1630
A work produced
during a period of
classical moderation
in Bernini's style, as
he sought to adapt to
current tastes. For
Carlo Barberini he
also carved a head to
Plaque on the
internal front, 1636
an
Galleria Doria Pamphilj scroll with
inscription by Urban
VIII, in the form of a
Bust of Innocent X, 1650 drape supported by
two angelic figures.
Piazza N WON A
Founinin oJ ihc lour Rivers. 164<S-5 1
houiiuun oj ihc
tains ol Rome. Bernini eanie up \sith an enonm>us siruclure
TinktT\ of rocks and rigiires, cxeciiled b\ his eollahi>ral(Ms. syniboliz-
inu ihe ri\eis Daiuihe. Ciangcs, Nile and I'lale. one lor each of
the ccMilinenls within the Church's sphere, ihe obelisk with
the I'aniphilj de\ ice. a i\o\c with an oli\e branch in its beak,
is a Roman imitation from the time o\ Domitian. originally in
Maxentius's Circus. It v\as raised w ilh great daring b\ Berni-
I Diinuim (>/ llic Miioi
ni, in competition with Borromini. who built the ctuiich of
Santa Agnese in front and the w ater conduit for the fountain.
Bernini even studied the noise made by the water, setting a
fantastic garden of marvels among the rocks, with a lion, a
In 1651 Bernini also sculpted the statue of the Moor for the
Giacomo Antonio
Model for
Fancclli.
the River MIe.
Ca (JOro. Venice
I uuniain oJ ihc I uur Rim . . J loiinidin oj the roiir Rivers, riie danges
1
^.^
-M
j^y.,|.a,.;r
1 l-:rf
100 RoMl . W'm Kl IC) HM)
Bernini's mysticism of the senses is bine with the light that enters through
exalted in this famous statue of a the window behind to create waves o\
recuinhent fi*:ure, the last work the an intense atmosphere o{ intimacy, from
artist carried out for Cardinal Altieri, the folds o{ the drapery that follow the
where the woman is represented dying soft yielding o{ the body to the expres-
in the throes of erotic abandon. The pat- sion on the dying woman's face and the
terns ot the polychrome marble com- hands clutchimz at her breast.
Bernini 101
lU-rnini the
Architect. 1629
organization and
decoration of the
interior and then the
external ones of the
facade, in 1637, and
the layout of the open
space in front of the
church, under
Alexander VII in
upper one.
His major contribution St. Peter's
to the interior
where he introduced
lively colors, with
sources of light,
marble decorations in
A huge and
eted
stirred
in
by the wind.
theatrical invention with
mock
isted
Realized over the space of nine years, it was the first work
executed by Bernini in his long acli\'it\ inside St. Peter's
basilica and the Vatican Palaces.
To obtain the bron/.e. Pope L'rban VIII Barberini ordered the
decorations of the Pantheon to be melted down.
The papal coats o\' arms at the base o\' the columns represent
the keys to the Kingdom oi' IIea\en. The small heads set
above the esciUcheons constitute an incredible sequence de-
picting, with extreme realism, the tra\ ail of a Noung woman,
perhaps the pope's o\\ n niece.
Bernini 103
Justice
Tomb of Urban VIII, 1628/39-47
work"
to the division of
Only Bernini had the genius and ized with careful attention to heights so
the problem-solving skills re- that the pope would still be able to bless
quired to find a way through all the pilgrims from his palace, on the right,
topographic and liturgical problems maintains a proportion that does not
posed by this work. The support and clash with the imposing facade. Bernini
authority of Pope Alexander VII proved used optical rather than structural solu-
essential to overcoming all the jeal- tions to link the cornice of the colon-
ousies and intrigues that arose over nade with the perspective of the crown-
the final solution. ing section, above the tympanum of the
The form of a universal embrace, real- fagade.
106 Ki)\ii . Where to find
St. Peter's
Constantino 1 662-68
ScalaRci^ia, 1664-66
Guido Reni (1575-1642), St. Philip Neri, 1615, Baciccio ( 1 63^^ 709), Sketch for the Ceiling of the
1
Orazio Gentileschi
(1562-1647),
The Baptism of Christ
(detail), 1605, Santa
Maria della Pace, Rome
Pompeo Batoni
(1708-87),
Hagar m the Desert.
1776,
Galleria Nazionalc
d'Arte Antica, Rome
Angels
AND Saints
IN Ecstasy
Qani(o
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38 ^'.y'
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5/
o. Giovanni
in Jaieranc
Francesco Borromini
Bissone (Lugano), September 27, 1599 - Rome, August 2, 1667
League. His father had worked as archi- with his own hands" (Baldinucci, 1682).
tect for the Visconti and when still very An irascible and often violent man, he
young he went to Milan to learn stone- put an end to his life by falling on a
cutting. By the age of fifteen, he was in sword, in a fit of fever and insomnia. He
Rome, following in the footsteps of the survived one more day and this gave
Lombard stonemasons who had gone him time to repent and to add some sub-
there to work on St. Peter's. Here he tly ironic maxims to his testament. "A
worked with his relative Carlo Mademo few days before he died he burned all
and, on his death in 1629, came under the drawings that he had meant to send
the direction of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, to the engraver but had not been able to
one year younger than himself, who was do so" (Baldinucci, 1682).
" i
Ir-T^
11 1 '
CJ space available.
The cloister, revolutionary
ga\e a
in the
dignified tone to a small area.
compactness of
The harmony of
its structure,
the
SailCarlo alle
minimal pioportions is linked to the unbroken fascia with
Quattro fimlane
plan rounded corners that runs in the middle between the litihter
BORROMINI 1 1 1
arches, open at the top and soberly ca- wonderful talent and great refinement
denced at the bottom. of understanding by laying out on such
Sharing the humanitarian beHefs of the a small site a habitation with so many
newly-estabHshed order, Borromini ac- amenities and a church of such beauty
cepted no payment for the work, which and grace, with altars and other fittings,
the piers of the dome of St. Peter's. 1662 and his death in 1667. It can be
Challenging the stateliness of classical said that the construction of this com-
architecture, this new approach to con- plex spanned the whole of his career.
struction led Milizia to describe it as The tiny proportions and charm of this
ing in Rome. Pope Innocent X chose him to carry out the re-
The work took around a decade ( 1644-55) and entailed the re-
Latkran Baptistery,
1637-50
External frieze
The external frieze
with heraldic symbols
was executed in 1637.
In 1650 a memorial
tablet to Cardinal
Francesco Adriano
Ceva designed by
Borromini was placed
in the chapel of San
Venanzio (on the left
of the altar).
The nave
original columns with brick pillars and renowned German students of Borromi-
given everything a uniformly pale col- ni, Eberhard Hempel, states: "Between
or, as was his custom. Yet this is to ig- the two great reconstructions, that of St.
nore the complexity of a project of re- Peter's and that of San Giovanni in Lat-
structuring that set out to preserve the erano, fell the time of the Counter Re-
ancient basilica, rather than destroy it, formation. Religious motives now de-
as the great architects Bramante and manded the most complete preservation
Michelangelo had decided to do with of ancient places of worship in their
the original St. Peter's. original form."
In confirmation of this, one of the most
was
For a long time, this
considered a classical
work. The purity of the
forms is connected with Bor-
romini 's interest in the archi-
tecture of the early sixteenth
century - when this oratory
IkM'nini had described him in the contract for St. Peter's, was
able lo follow a vision o\' his own in his first commission,
licrnini, Palazzo
Barberini, portal producing an example of sublime archilcclure.
The perfect technical mastery he ac- which can be seen clearly from via Capo
quired during the hard work he did le Case, has been defined as "a votive
as a stonecutter until over the age of basket offered to the Deity." The sculp-
thirty allowed him to shape material to ture blends into the architecture, creating,
suit his ideas. Not just the campanile, as a separate phenomenon, a stmcturc rich
but the whole of the architectural struc- in ideas carved out of the living brick and
ture appears to be in motion, as if car- serving as a prelude to his unusual ap-
ried along by the flow of light. proach to the construction of walls. The ar-
Palazzo Carpegna
I
Collegia di Propaganda Fide, lateral facade and detail of the portal
Pi\//\ N wow
Innoccnl \ uaiilctl U^ liiiii llic square uilo a lu\iiiioiis and
worllis selling lor llie I'ainphilj laniil) residence.
was he who built the Gallery, on the left o{ the facade o'i Sant'
Agnese, with its fine external Serliana. Pietro da
liiiii I
euant doorframes.
.?Ma
In ink ( iim'ii k on Bi knini, mi Foi ntain of thk Foi k Rivkrs
BORROMINl 119
Erected at the pope's behest on the and homogeneous structure. The interi-
site where a little church stood to or, in the shape of an elliptical Greek
commemorate the martyrdom of St. cross, opens onto the square through the
Agnes, who was shown naked to the harmonious facade, which echoes
crowd at the circus (the room under- Michelangelo's idea for St. Peter's,
neath, open to visitors), the church was bringing together all the elements of its
begun by Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi composition, from the campaniles to the
in 1652. It is not known why the project light dome. Its sinuous forms and cen-
was then entrusted to Borromini (1653- tralized perspective inspired Bernini in
57), who altered the plan and the posi- his more classical design for Sanl 'An-
tion of the facade, creating a compact drea al Quirinale.
120 R()\lh. WHtRh TO FIND
Biblioteca
Alessandrina
Between 1659 and
1661 Borromini was
busy working on two
libraries, the
Biblioteca Angelica
on piazza
Sant'Agostino and
the Biblioteca
Alessandrina, on the
north side of
La Sapicnza University
While little of
Borromini's design
has survived in the
former, the latter
established a
prototype for
eighteenth-century Scinf Ivo alia Sapicnza, 1642-30
libraries: a large,
three-story-high hall,
the end of a laic .si\lccnth-ccnliir\ ihc
in which the Set at pttrlicci,
Perspective Gallery
structure is a
baroque rework-
ing of Raphael's
Logge in the
Vatican.
Ri)\ii . Wherhto mnd
Oratorian Monasterw 1 62 -6 1
1621 the confraternity of St. Philip in the modest material oi' brick, chosen
In
Ncri chose Borromini to supervise b\ the fathers themsehes. The conca\e
the work on the sacristy, and afterward shape interacts with the space outside to
called on him again to build its new or- create a continuil\ o\' linear de\elop-
atory (1637-40). The success he had at- ment v\ ith the square and the fac^-ade o\'
tained with the Trinitarian Fathers at the Oratorian Church (Chiesa Nuo\a).
San Carlo allc Quattro Fonlane had The structure does not unify the points
earned him some renown and he had of \ iew. as in the Renaissance tradition,
also the Agustinian nuns o\ Sanla Mai ia square, where the two arms are laid out
in Selci. along two intersecting circumferences
The front lacing onto the st|uarc is a and there is no unif\ing \anishing
work of ureal creative uenius. couched point.
BORROMIM 123
Monastery
Interior, Oratorian Clock tower, Oratorian Monastery
(Opus Architectonicum I, 39)
Each of the elhptical spaces housing the Later on, Borromini designed the li-
refectory and the recreation hall has an brary (1642-44) and monastery (1647-
external courtyard. The pattern of solids 49) of the Oratorians, along with hous-
and voids is a function of the essentiali- ing for members of the order and the
ty of the structures, which forms the ba- fagade on piazza Monte Giordano with
sis of composition. its clock tower.
124 R()\I1 . WlU.Rh TO HM)
Santa Maria dci Scttc Dolori, o'i Hadrian \ Villa at Tixoli. During the
1643-49 period when he was most heavily en-
gaged on the restoration of the basilica
t6 Tust as Michelangelo, who had a of San Giovanni. Borromini took on the
J particularly strong influence on design of this small church, whose con-
him. foreshadowed the Baroque, so struction would proceed only slow ly
plan of the diacta in the Golden Square terior was resumed in 1646-49.
St. Peter's
Chapel of the
Base for Michelangelo's Pieta, Sacrament, 1628-30
1626
right,
Arc HITECTURE
IN ROMK AFTER
BORROMIM
r ^^1
works as director of ll
twentieth-century collections
the Galleria Nazionale d'Arie
Moderna and the Manzii
^
Collection at Ardi
She has organized exhibitiorif^
in Italv and abroad.