Altitude 412 m (1,351 feet). 18,000 inhabitants
Ancient Aricia, Latin city which took part in
the struggles of the Latins against Rome and later became a city federated with
Rome (municipio)
In the year
87 BC it was sacked by Marius and reinforced by Sulla
Its fame
came from the Sanctuary of Diana Aricina
or Nemorense which used to stand on the shore of Lake Nemi
In 1661 the
Ariccia feud was bought by the Chigi family
Ariccia’s
Bridge
1847/54 Ireneo Aleandri (1795/1885)
It was destroyed
by the Germans in 1944, it was reconstructed after World War II and it
collapsed in 1967
Since 1997
there are safety nets to prevent the recurrence of suicide attempts
Substructure
of the Appian Way
198 x 11,56
m (650 x 38 feet)
It was
built so that the road wouldn’t have been too steep dealing with the overhang
of the hill
Maybe it was
built at the behest of the Gracchi brothers who, according to Plutarch, restored
the Via Appia
Small
Republican Temple
60 m (197
feet) from the ancient Appian Way that passed through the lower part of the
ancient settlement
There are remains
of the walls of the cella built in large square blocks of peperino stone
“Villa
of Vitellius (69 AD)”
Area of
about 5 hectares (12.3 acres) near Mount Gentile, northeast of the town
Structures
for the most part built in reticulated work (opus reticulatum) attributed to Emperor Vitellius according to
Tacitus
Remains of
a nymphaeum and cisterns known as Muracce
Locanda
Martorelli
Martorelli
Inn
Old hotel
of the Grand Tour of Italy, frequented by artists and writers from 1820 until 1880
Frescoes "Myth of
Diana" by Tadeusz Kuntze aka Taddeo il Polacco (1732/93)
Piazza della Repubblica
Republic Square
1662/65 Gian Lorenzo
Bernini (1598/1680)
Two symmetrical fountains
Santuario di S. Maria di Galloro
Shrine
of St. Mary of Galloro
1624,
expanded in 1661
FAÇADE by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
MAIN ALTAR
Maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini with "Madonna with
Child" on peperino stone (well cemented tufa typical of the Lazio region)
found in the woods in 1621
Above one
of the altars "St. Thomas of Villanova" 1663 by Giacinto Gimignani (1606/81)
1st
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
"S.
Francis de Sales" by Guillaume Courtois aka il
Borgognone (1628/79)
Every
December 8th the Processione
della Signorina (Procession of the Young Lady) takes place to commemorate
the end of the plague in 1656. So-called because the procession is led by a
young girl
The image
of the Virgin Mary is carried in procession to the house of a citizen of
Ariccia who will keep the sacred image for six months
S.
Maria dell’Assunzione
St.
Mary of the Assumption
1662/65 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for the Chigi family,
consecrated in the presence of Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67)
The two
semicircles were originally the House of
the Minister and the House of the
Governor
DOME
Stucco
decoration "Cherubs and Angels" holding suspended garlands, designed
by Bernini, made by Pietro Paolo Naldini (1619/91)
"The
simple structure depended on an attempt to create an imaginary Pantheon of the
venerable republican period. Bernini believed that the old building was
originally an example of heroic simplicity and grandeur. In the area of the
dome, with a combination of coffered ceiling and ribs, there is a realistic
decoration similar to that of Castelgandolfo. What do these credible figures
mean? The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and, according to legend,
jubilant Angels would have scattered flowers on the day of her Assumption. As
the jubilant angels, higher beings who live in an area inaccessible to the faithful,
are treated with extreme realism, they evoke true life in full. So when
entering the church, the pious man participates in the mystery taking place. As
at Castelgandolfo, the consecration of the church results in a
dramatic-historical interpretation; the whole church is subject, and dominated,
by this particular event and the entire interior has become a stage" (Rudolf
Wittkower)
The altarpieces
were all executed in the years 1662/65
1st
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
"St.
Roch among the lepers" by Alessandro Mattia da Farnese
(1631/?)
2nd
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
"Holy
Trinity with St. Augustine" by Bernardino Mei (1612/76)
3rd
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
"St. Francis
de Sales tramples heresy" by Emilio Taruffi (1633/96)
In front of
the altar "Baptismal font" fourth century AD
MAIN ALTAR
Designed by
G.B. Contini (1641/1723)
Large
fresco representing with an illusionistic effect of breaching the landscape
behind the church: "Assumption" about 1666 by Guillaume Courtois aka il Borgognone (1628/79)
Under the
altar "Urn of the seventeenth-century" with relics of the martyr St. Deodatus
3rd
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
"Death
of St. Thomas of Villanova" by Raffaele Vanni (1587/1673)
from Siena
2nd
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
"Holy
Family" by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97)
1st
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT "St. Anthony of Egypt" by Giacinto
Gimignani (1606/81)
Palazzo
Chigi
Built in
the second half of the sixteenth century as a castle for the Savelli family
Renovated in
the years 1664/72 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)
with his pupil Carlo Fontana (1634/1714) by
Alessandro VII Chigi (1655/67)
Sold by the
Chigi family to the Municipality of Ariccia in 1988 and opened to the public in
1999
It is a
museum and a center of many cultural activities such as exhibitions, concerts, and
conferences
It
preserves the original furnishings of the seventeenth century with valuable
paintings
Among the
films shot here "The Leopard" by Luchino Visconti in 1962 and "L’Avaro"
with Alberto Sordi
Ground
floor
Private
apartment of the Cardinal Flavio Chigi
NINE ROOMS
that preserve the original furniture of the seventeenth century and paintings
from the Chigi Collection including:
"Four
allegories of the senses" by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)
"Portrait
of Clement IX Rospigliosi (1667/69)" and "Portrait of Cardinal Sigismondo
Chigi" by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709)
"Pindar
and Pan" by Salvator Rosa (1615/73)
Piano
Nobile
Main section of the building
Twenty
rooms with original furnishings of the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s and very rare LEATHER
PRINTED WALLPAPER of Spanish origin of the seventeenth century that cover the
entire area of the floor and which constitute a unique example in the world
SUMMER
DINING ROOM
Tempera
decorations with illusionistic landscape, alluding to an aviary, about 1857 by Annibale Angelini (1812/84)
"Chigi
Vase" maybe dating back to the Hellenistic period, most probably an eclectic-classicist
work of the Augustan period, found in 1780 in the area Tor Paterno Castel
Porziano, restored in 1785 by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
PHARMACY
AND CABINET OF PORTRAITS
Furniture
designed in 1670 by Carlo Fontana (1634/1714)
and made by Antonio Chicari
MARIO DE’
FIORI’S ROOM
Leather
upholstery under a design patented in Amsterdam
"Four
Seasons" by Mario Nuzzi aka Mario de’ Fiori (1603/73)
by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)
("Summer"), Giacinto Brandi (1621/91)
("Autumn"), Bernardino Mei (1612/76 )
("Winter"), Filippo Lauri (1623/94)
("Spring")
Furthermore,
"Portrait of Mario de’ Fiori painting" by Giovanni
Maria Morandi (1622/1717)
MAIN ROOM
It used to
be an opera theater in the seventeenth century
In the
upper part "Eight large preparatory paintings with angels" by
Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)
for the mosaics in the ribs of the dome of St.
Peter's Basilica
"Blessed Giovanni Chigi" by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709)
In the
adjacent CHAPEL
Sanguine
(drawing with red chalk) on the wall "St. Joseph with the Child" 1663
signed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)
ARIOSTO’S ROOM
Frescoes
with "Scenes of Orlando Furioso" by Giuseppe
Cades (1750/99)
Among the
works from the Chigi Collection:
"Terracotta
bust of Alexander VII" by Melchiorre Caffà (1636/67)
"Two
marble busts of Alexander VII" by Giuseppe
Mazzuoli (1644/1725)
"Portrait
of Cardinal Flavio I Chigi" by Jacob Ferdinand
Voet (about 1639/89)
Second
floor
It is divided
into two sections, the second of which houses temporary exhibitions
In the
first section MUSEO DEL BAROCCO (Museum of Baroque Art) with collection of 48
paintings donated by the art historian Maurizio Fagiolo as the initial core of
the museum, later expanded with the Lemme
Collection of 128 paintings, the Laschena
Collection of 14 paintings, the Ferrari
Collection and other donations
Among the masterpieces:
"Drunkenness
of Noah" and "Lot and his daughters" by Giacinto
Brandi (1621/91)
"Portrait
of Cardinal Rinaldo d'Este" about 1659 by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)
"Portrait
of Pope Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55)" (maybe) and "Flagellation of
Christ" by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona
(1597/1669)
"Three portraits
of Cardinal Francesco Albizzi" by Giovanni Maria
Morandi (1622/1717)
"Adoration
of the Shepherds" by Andrea Pozzo (1642/1709)
"Self-Portrait"
about 1665, "Virgin Mary in Prayer" and "Fortitude and
Charity" sketch for a pendentive in St.
Agnes in Agone by G.B. Gaulli aka
Baciccio (1639/1709)
"Taking
of Christ in the Garden" about 1597 by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino
"St.
Charles Borromeo in prayer" by Andrea Commodi (1560/1638),
the first master of Pietro da Cortona
"S.
Lucy" by G.B. Salvi aka Sassoferrato (1609/85)
"Dream
of St. Joseph" about 1653/55 by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)
"St.
Yves lawyer of the poor" and "Peace and Justice" with a tender Sapphic
touch by Ciro Ferri (1634/89)
"Venus
wipes his forehead with Adonis" by Giacinto
Gimignani (1606/81)
"Mary
and Joseph found Jesus disputing with the doctors in the Temple" by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97)
In the
collection there are also paintings by Lazzaro Baldi
(about 1624/1703), Mattia Preti (1613/99) and Domenico Fetti (1589/1623)
Among Gaulli’s pupils there are works of the
two main ones:
Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731) and Ludovico Mazzanti (1686/1775)
Carlo Maratta and his followers, popular
throughout all of the eighteenth century:
Carlo
Maratta (1625/1713),
the founder, with "Baptism of the Centurion Cornelius" for the
Basilica of St. Peter and "Self-Portrait"
There are also
paintings by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727), Giuseppe Passeri (1654/1714) and Agostino Masucci (1691/1758)
Painting styles of the eighteenth century and
evolution of Roman painting in the period between Baroque and Neoclassicism:
"Miracle
of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni" by Benedetto
Luti (1666/1724)
"St.
Bartholomew" by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)
Also works by Placido
Costanzi (1702/59), Marco Benefial
(1684/1764), Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746), Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764), Domenico
Corvi (1721/1803), Corrado Giaquinto (1703/66), Giuseppe
Cades (1750/99), Pier Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755),
Laurent Pécheux (1729/1821), Antonio Cavallucci (1752/95) and Francesco Manno (1752/1831)
French or Flemish artists who stayed in Rome:
Jean
Lemaire, Jan Miel (1599/1663) and Jacques
Stella
"Killing
of Archimedes" and "Hagar and Ishmael" with the appearance of
the angel by Guillaume Courtois aka Borgognone
(1628/79)
"What
moves us in this painting is the fusion of the characters with the landscape,
the importance given to the sky and the landscape, the pre-romantic color, the touch
fluid and dense at the same time and the magnificent appearance of the
angel" (Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée)
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