Saturday, October 29, 2016

QUIRINAL PALACE (fifth part)

Gallery of Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67)
Divided into three rooms (Yellow Room, Augustus' Room and Room of the Ambassadors) in early 1800s by Raffaele Stern (1774/1820) to create the rooms of the apartment of the Empress Marie Louise, during the transformation of the palace for the planned residence of her husband Napoleon Bonaparte, who never actually came to Rome in his life
The recent restoration work, started in 2001 and still ongoing, revealed the original fresco decoration with columns and telamons 1656/57 directed by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)
YELLOW ROOM
Fresco “Joseph recognized by his brothers” by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)
“He started under the Cavalier d'Arpino, but received the influence that would last throughout his life after a prolonged stay in Venice. He returned to Rome in 1641 and in the following two decades he used a rich palette of warm and brownish shades and created works in which the element of landscape often forms the central point of the composition. He gave his best in small paintings that reveal an idyllic and even elegiac style, absolutely personal. His masterpiece as a painter of frescoes at the Quirinal Palace reveals the specific problem of this group of artists. Again, the landscape plays a predominant part, but the organization of the painting with a composition of figures, which derives as much from Raphael as from Pietro da Cortona, shows a trend toward conciliation with the dominant classicism of the period” (Rudolf Wittkower)
Frescoes in the great frieze “Stories from the Old Testament” under the direction of Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) who also directed the work on the frieze in the two following rooms:
Left wall:
“Joseph sold by his brothers” by Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615/74)
“Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau” by Fabrizio Chiari (about 1615/95)
“Jacob and the Angel” by Giovanni Paolo Schor
Right wall:
“Explorers of the promised land” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) from Bologna
“Passage of the Red Sea” by Jean Miel (1599/1663)
“Moses and the Burning Bush” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
Two tapestries “Miraculous Draught of Fishes” and “The Last Supper” 1753/64 by the Gobelins manufactory in Paris
The room was the dressing room of the new pontiff during conclaves
ROOM OF AUGUSTUS
It was the Throne Room of Pius IX and of the King of Italy and it is now named after the “Bust of Augustus” sculpted in 1900 and placed here for Hitler's visit in 1938
Ceiling 1812 with central panel in monochrome “Prophets” 1846 by Tommaso Minardi (1787/1871)
Frescoes on the great frieze “Stories from the Old Testament”:
Left wall:
“Sacrifice of Isaac” by Giovanni Angelo Canini (1609/66)
“Exit from the ark of Noah” by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)
“Entrance into the ark” by Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615/74)
Right wall:
“David slays Goliath” by Francesco Murgia
“Gideon squeezes out the dew from the fleece” by Filippo Lauri (1623/94)
“Victory of Joshua over the Amorites” by Guillaume Courtois aka Borgognone (1628/79)
ROOM OF THE AMBASSADORS
Floor with “Mosaic with birds” maybe from Villa Adriana in Tivoli
Ceiling “Justice”, “Wisdom” and “Judgment of Solomon” about 1823 by Francesco Manno (1752/1831)
Frescoes on the great frieze “Stories of the Old Testament” 1656/57:
Left wall:
“God warning Adam and Eve” by Lazzaro Baldi and Gaspard Dughet (1615/75)
“Expulsion from Paradise” by Bartolomeo Colombo
“Sacrifices of Cain and Abel” by Filippo Lauri (1623/94) and Gaspard Dughet
Right wall:
“Judgment of Solomon” by Carlo Cesi (1626/86)
“Ciro frees the Israelites from captivity in Babylon” by Ciro Ferri (1634/89)
“Annunciation” by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)
Among the paintings “Virtues” by Tommaso Minardi (1787/1871), fresco “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) which was covered in the Savoy period and recovered only in 1925
On the sides “Angels” 1848 by the Roman Luigi Coghetti who often worked with his namesake Francesco Coghetti from Bergamo
Below “Monochrome with the church of S. Maria della Pace” revealed by the recent restoration
Large fresco “The mission of the apostles” 1864 by Tommaso Minardi
Tapestries “Stories of the New Testament” of the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Gobelins manufactory in Paris

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