Friday, April 17, 2015

VATICAN MUSEUMS - ROOMS NEAR THE SISTINE CHAPEL (first part)

ROOMS NEAR THE SISTINE CHAPEL
 
Open to the public only with special permission

 

Sala Regia

Royal Room

1540/73 begun by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546). It is next to the Sistine Chapel and it was used to receive monarchs

Stucco coffered barrel vault by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47)

Stuccos on the walls by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66)

All the paintings depict papal victories designed to remind the visiting monarchs of the papal primacy

Large historical frescoes

“Battle of Lepanto” and “Return of Gregory XI Beaufort (1370/78) from Avignon” 1571 and “Night of St. Bartholomew” 1572 by Giorgio Vasari (1511/74)

“Submission of Barbarossa to Alexander III Bandinelli (1159/81)” by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“Capture of Tunis” and “Henry IV in front of Gregory VII (1073/85)” and panel over the door with “Donation of Charlemagne” by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66) with his brother Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

“The culmination of the artistic activity of Taddeo Zuccari coincides with the work at the Sala Regia. (...) Of his Donation of Charlemagne both the pleasing arrangement of color and the cleverly harmonious composition were appreciated. (...) Overall it is hardly a masterpiece, but compared to the work of his competitors it is pleasant, thanks to the lightness and safety of the stroke. The Taking of Tunis also shows a similar mix of strengths and weaknesses. The fresco with Henry IV in front of Gregory VII, after the death of the artist, was completed by his brother, while the two allegorical figures above the door still betray the style of Taddeo” (Hermann Voss)

“Triumph of Faith over Unfaithfulness” by Lorenzo Sabatini (about 1530/76)

Smaller pictures

“Return of the provinces to Agapito” by Orazio Sammachini (1532/77)
“Donation of Ravenna” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)
“The offer of Pietro d'Aragona to Eugene III (1145/53)” by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79)
“Single perfect figures, such as the warrior standing in the left foreground, are isolated, while the protagonists of the scene do not reach the same level” (Hermann Voss)
Other paintings by Marco Pino aka Marco da Siena (about 1525/87)

Aula delle Benedizioni

Room of the Blessings

Next to the Royal Room above the Atrium of St. Peter, with the same size

Damaged fresco in the upper part “Boat of the apostles” 1627/28 by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) formerly in the passage to the Chapel of Sts. Michael and Petronilla in the Basilica of St. Peter, placed here in 1721 when it was substituted with a copy in mosaic by Pietro Paolo Cristofari (1685/1743). It had in turn replaced a 1605 fresco by the poor Bernardo Castello

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