“The room
houses a large group of paintings executed for the solemn ceremony of
beatification and canonization which took place in 1737 in the Basilica of St. John
Lateran under Pope Clement XII. This is a unique in Roman collectibles that
demonstrates the willingness of Neri Maria Corsini to group paintings in a
dedicated room for this specific function and celebrate the role of 'procurator
fidei' he played during that ceremony” (Official Website of the Galleria
Corsini - galleriacorsini.beniculturali.it)
At the
center of the room “Fragment of red amber” that may have come from the Baltic
Sea
“Ecstasy of S. Caterina de' Ricci” 1737 or 1746 by Agostino Masucci (1691/1758) who also painted “S. Andrea Corsini” 1733/34 copy of an original by Guido Reni
which was also copied as a mosaic by Pietro Paul Cristofari in the Corsini
Chapel in the Basilica of St. John Lateran
“The staging
of the miraculous event highlights a compelling desire to historicize the
sacred drama, ahead of French paintings of the second half of the century.
(...) (In the S. Andrea Corsini) Masucci reached a high level of extraordinary
mimetic virtuosity, but not giving up in his own interpretation of the
seventeenth-century model in his absolute clarity of design and cool color
tones” (Valerio Da Gai - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
“Preaching of S. Vincenzo de' Paolis” 1737 by Giacomo
Zoboli (1681/1767)
“Vision of S. Caterina Fieschi” by Marco
Benefial 1737 (1684/1764)
“Everything
is polished, thoughtful and tangible in the sacred appearance. The serious
heaviness of Christ walking under the weight of the Cross, trampling his own
blood, is opposed to the stylish sophistication of the dress of the woman, an
antithesis that perfectly captures the node of the story (the conversion of the
frivolous lady from Genoa) outside of any formal flattery, playing only with
the obvious concreteness of things shown. A compositional rigor unique in Rome
at the time” (Angela Negro)
“Death of S. Giuliana Falconieri” by Pier
Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755)
Mosaic with
“Portrait of Pope Clement XII Corsini and Cardinal
Neri Maria Corsini” about 1731 by Pietro Paolo Cristofari
(1685/1743) who in 1727 founded the institution known as Studio del mosaico
al Vaticano (Vatican Mosaic Studio) still operating today
“The
prototype of the mosaic also executed by Masucci is kept in the Corsiniana Library.
With the easy comparison between the two works it is possible to admire the
technical capacity of Cristofari, able to reproduce with great fidelity the
model even in the colors” (Sivigliano Alloisi)
Some
of the Works Kept in Storage
“Portrait
of Bernardo Clesio” by Joos Van Cleve (about
1485/1540)
“Portrait
of a Man” about 1540 by Pier Francesco Foschi
(about 1502/67)
“Hunters”
by the Dutch Philips Wouwerman (1619/68)
“St. John
and Angels” and “Flight into Egypt” by Carlo Maratta
(1625/1713)
“St. Agnes” by the Florentine Carlo
Dolci (1616/86)
“Portrait
of James III Stuart, pretender to the English throne” by the French François De Troy (1679/1752)
“St. Francis resurrects a dead man” by Andrea
Sacchi (1599/1661)
“St. Joseph”
by Guido Reni (1575/1642)
“Lamentation
over the Dead Christ” by Sisto Badalocchio
(1585/1645)
“Jupiter sends Mercury to Apollo” maybe by Francesco
Albani (1578/1660)
“Nymphs and
Satyrs” by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746)
“Country” by Paolo Anesi
(1697/1773)
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