Friday, January 29, 2016

BARBERINI PALACE - NATIONAL ART GALLERY (fourteenth part)

Room XVI B - Chapel

1632 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for the baptism of a daughter of Taddeo Barberini and Anna Colonna who used to live in this wing of the palace
The floor tiles date back to the eighteenth century
Creator and supervisor of the decoration was Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) who painted himself the splendid “Crucifixion” on the altar
“It is the only scene entirely attributable to the master. It is possible to recognize here an innovative language, able to evoke the classic models of antiquity, giving them the vitality and energy of the present time” (Official website of the Barberini Gallery - www. galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it)
RIGHT WALL
“Ascension” by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini (about 1614/about 1684) and lunette “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” by Giacinto Gimignani (1606/81)
LEFT WALL
“Adoration of the Shepherds” by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) a from Viterbo and lunette “Holy Family” by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini
ENTRANCE WALL
“Annunciation” by Giacinto Gimignani and lunette “St. Francis of Paola crossing the sea” by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini
DOME
“Holy Spirit and cherubs with the symbols of the Passion” by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini and Giovanni Francesco Romanelli
Stuccos by Simone Lagi who was often working for the Barberini family
Room XVII - Mannerist Painters

Vault: “Stories of Joseph son of Jacob” 1583 Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio (1552/1626) and Baldassare Croce (about 1553/1628)
“Adoration of the Shepherds” and “Baptism of Christ” about 1600 by El Greco (1541/1614)
These are wonderful and visionary sketches by the Cretan artist whose real name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos
“When El Greco arrived in Rome, in 1570, was guest of one of the most influential patrons of the time, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, around whom there was a lively circle of intellectuals and artists who were a challenging company for the young painter. In Rome, the comparison with the great painters of the Renaissance and Mannerist pushed the artist to process further his style, which became more sculptural with the use of chiaroscuro. (...) The figures became elongated and slender in an unnatural manner and proportions between characters were often not respected: reconnecting to the Byzantine tradition, he painted the scene so that the audience immediately would grasp the central elements. He used strong colors and unusual hues (red blood, yellow gold), useful to characterize the most important figures, dramatically illuminated by light blows to impressive effect” (Eugenia Querci - Enciclopedia Treccani)
“Deposition of Christ” by Jacopino del Conte (about 1515/98)
“Pietà” by an anonymous follower of Michelangelo, perhaps the mysterious Master of the Manchester Madonna
“The bath of Bathsheba” about 1573 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96), formerly believed lost after the bombing of the Italian embassy in Berlin
“Beheading of St. Paul” by Rutilio Manetti (1571/1639)
“Crucifixion of St. Peter” by Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613)
“Venus mourning the death of Adonis” by Luca Cambiaso (1527/85)
“Aware of the art of Perin del Vaga and Pordenone, but also of Beccafumi, Cambiaso softened later his forms marked by gigantic proportions and unusual foreshortening of his early works with a personal version of the experiences of Venetian painters in regard to color and lighting effects. (...) In 1583 he was summoned by Philip II for the decoration of the Escorial” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
“Symposium on the shore of a lake” maybe by the Bolognese Giovanni Andrea Danducci aka Mastelletta (1575/1655)
“Judith with the Head of Holofernes” by Jan Metsys or Massys (about 1510/75) son and pupil of Quentin Massys
He was accused of heresy and banished from Antwerp, the city where he was born
“Agony of Christ in the Garden” by Marcello Venusti (about 1512/79) with Christ represented twice
“St. Jerome Penitent” by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92)
“The art of Muziano, derived mainly to the Brescian school and in which there are influences from Veneto, is characteristic for the fusion of various elements from Michelangelo and Sebastiano del Piombo, all of which contribute measurably to an eclectic style, very typical of the Roman culture of the late sixteenth century” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
“Dead Christ supported by an angel” about 1560 by the Flemish artist Jacob de Backer (about 1555/85) who lived in Rome from 1557 to 1560

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