CARPEGNA PALACE - GALLERY OF THE ACADEMY OF St. LUKE (third part)

SOME OF THE MASTERPIECES EXHIBITED OR KEPT IN STORAGE

Paintings

Fresco representing a “Putto” maybe by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) to whom it is also traditionally assigned the painting “St. Luke painting the Virgin Mary”

“Annunciation to the Shepherds” by Jacopo Da Ponte aka Jacopo Bassano (about 1510/92)

“Polish Prince” and “Virgin Mary and Child with Angels Musician” by Antoon Van Dyck (1599/1641)

“Nymphs crown Abundance” by Peter Paul Rubens (1577/1640)

“Judith and Holofernes” by G.B. Piazzetta (1683/1754)

“The artistic expression of Piazzetta was the result of extraordinary intensity of feeling, not diluted, but deliberately concentrated in dense and short summaries of painting. In fact Piazzetta, although Venetian by birth, education and art, seems to have wanted to pursue a tantalizingly mirage of plastic perfection: so that his work ranged, because of its inherent extreme difficulty, between the highest pinnacles of art and the disappointment of not reaching the desired results. Technically, the painter is distinguished by the Venetians of his time for a strong unusual draughtsmanship, although his is a pictorial design, without anything of linear in itself. It would be enough as evidence to remind how he was the greatest drawer of the eighteenth century” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

“Self-Portrait” by Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

“Portrait of Pietro Bernini” maybe by his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)

“Love joking”, “Bacchus and Ariadne” and “Sorrowful Madonna” by Guido Reni (1575/1642)

“Portrait of Pope Clement XI Albani (1700/21)”, “Glory of Angels”, “Madonna and Child” and “The Birth of John the Baptist” by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709)

Eight paintings including “Landscapes” by Salvator Rosa (1615/73)

Oil on copper “Virgin and St. Francis” copy from the church S. Maria della Vittoria by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

“Portrait of Ippolito Riminaldi”, “Portrait of Marino Corner” and “St. Jerome” Tiziano Vecellio (Titian) (about 1490/1576)

“The singer” and “Tarquin killing Lucretia” by Guido Cagnacci (1601/63)

Three paintings with “Roman Ruins” including “The Archaeologist” 1749 by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765)

“Self Portrait” by Lavinia Fontana (1552/1614)

“Madonna and Child” by G.B. Salvi aka Sassoferrato (1609/85)

“Venus and Cupid” by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666)

“St. Bartholomew”, “St. Andrew” and “Portrait of a Woman” by Alessandro Allori aka Bronzino (1533/1607) a student of Agnolo di Cosimo aka Bronzino

“Rest on the Flight into Egypt” by Federico Fiori aka Barocci (1535/1612)

“Jael killing Sisera”, “Virgin in prayer” and twelve portraits by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)

“The Plague” by Mattia Preti (1613/99)

“Bacchanal” and “Immaculate Conception” by Corrado Giaquinto (1703/66)

Five paintings including “Cupid and Psyche” and “St. Benedict in the bush” 1694/95 by Benedetto Luti (1666/1724)

Four paintings by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746)

“Faustulus entrusts Romulus and Remus to Larentia” about 1739 by Jean François de Troy (1679/1752)

“Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

“Portrait of the English painter John Parker”, “Christ with St. Margaret of Cortona” and “Self-Portrait” by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

“The simplicity of the representation (of this self-portrait by Benefial), which focuses on the individual, as it appears, ignoring attributes and ornaments, seems to be an important element of identification, together with the fiery attitude, a little contemptuous and his character shown without fear and uncertainties. A probable date for the painting is the middle of the second decade of the eighteenth century, showing the sitter here when he was about forty years old. Regarding the revolutionary art of the Roman artist Evelina Borea spoke 'of a strong and passionate naturalism absolutely innovative in those years in Rome', ‘of singular naturalistic clarity' and 'of a clarification of the detail, never giving up to decorative frills' (in E. Borea, Benefial Marco, DBI, 8, Rome, 1966, pp. .467), elements that we can fully relate to the work here examined” (Antonello Cesareo - Website of the Academy of St. Luke www.accademiasanluca.it)

“Synagogue” by the English William Hogarth (1697/1764)

“Portrait of the father Gaspar van Wittel” by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700/73)

“Allegory of Gratitude” 1706 by Pier Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755)

“The painting became part of the academic collections as 'joining gift' by Pier Leone Ghezzi. Starting from the oldest statutes of the Society, in fact, it was prescribed that each new member at the time of appointment would donate an essay of his art as a gift to the academic collections. (...) The iconography of the 'Gratitude' is derived from the 'Iconology' by Cesare Ripa. (...) The inscription on the table and the presence of the evergreen juniper allude to the durability of memory. On the day of admission of Pier Leone Ghezzi to the Academy was present Giuseppe, his father who, as the sources mention, played an important role in the education of his son” (Paola Picardi)

“Death of the Virgin Mary” by Francesco Coghetti (1801/75)

“Cathedral of Orvieto” by Annibale Angelini (1812/84)

“Funeral of Julius Caesar” and “Self-Portrait” by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)

“Portrait of Marianna Waldestein of Santa Cruz” by Andrea Appiani (1754/1817)

“Ulysses at the court of Alcinous” and “Triumphant Athlete” by Francesco Hayez (1791/1882)

“Self Portrait” by the Dutchman naturalized Briton Laurens Alma-Tadema (1836/1912)

“He first painted subject of medieval German history, but after a trip to Italy in 1863, he turned instead to subjects of ancient history. In 1870 he settled in London and specialized in scenes of Rome, which received great success: effects of artificial figures seen against polished marbles, illusionistic skills playing textiles, meat, metals” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

“Naked Woman” 1900 by Giulio Aristide Sartorio (1860/1932)

“Portrait of a Woman” by Scipione Vannutelli (1834/94)

Three watercolors by Enrico Coleman (1846/1911)

“Return from fishing” by Umberto Coromaldi (1870/1948)

“Farmer” and “Self-Portrait” 1958 by Giacomo Balla (1871/1958)

“The Philosopher” 1954 by Carlo Carrà (1881/1966)

“Portrait of a Woman” by Tranquillo Cremona (1837/78)

Sketch of “The Deposition” by Adolfo De Carolis (1874/1928)

“Female friends reading” and “Self-Portrait” by Ercole Drei (1886/1973)

THERE ARE ALSO PAINTINGS BY:

Giovanni Antonio Canal aka Canaletto (1697/1768), Jacopo Negretti aka Jacopo Palma il Giovane (1544/1628), Paris Bordon (1500/71), Ciro Ferri (1634/89), Orazio Borgianni (1578/1616), Marcello Venusti (about 1512/79), Nicolas Poussin (1594/1665), Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62), Luigi Garzi (1638/1721), Gaspard Dughet (1615/75), Rosalba Carriera (1675/1757), Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727), Paul Brill (1554/1626), Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703), Jacques Courtois aka Borgognone (1628/79) e Guillaume Courtois (1628/79) both known as Borgognone, Giacomo Zoboli (1681/1767), Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731), Giacomo Triga (1674/1746), Gaetano Lapis (1706/76), Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97) e suo padre Giacinto Gimignani (1606/81), Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66), Giuseppe Ghezzi (1634/1721), Placido Costanzi (1702/59), Giuseppe Passeri (1654/1714), Nicolò Ricciolini (1687/1772), Laurent Pécheux (1729/1821), Domenico Corvi (1721/1803), Pierre Subleyras (1699/1749), Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774), Gaspare Landi (1756/1830), Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640), Jan Frans Van Bloemen aka Orizzonte (1662/1749), Gaspar van Wittel (1653/1736), Anton von Maron (1733/1808), Jean-Baptiste Wicar (1762/1834), Vincenzo Camuccini (1771/1844), Francesco Podesti (1800/95), Alessandro Capalti (1807/78), Pio Joris (1843/1921), Francesco Grandi (1831/91), Silverio Capparoni (1831/1907), Tommaso Minardi (1787/1871), Ludovico Seitz (1844/1908), Ludovico Stern (1709/77), Giulio Bargellini (1896/1936), Cesare Mariani (1826/1901), Antonio Mancini (1852/1930), Fausto Pirandello (1899/1975) and other

Bronze Sculptures

“Portrait of Napoleon as First Consul” by Antonio Canova (1757/1822)

“Bust of a Woman” by Emilio Greco (1913/95)

“Self-Portrait” by Ettore Ximenes (1855/1926)

“Female Head (Portrait of Lalla)” by Ercole Drei (1886/1973)

“Portrait of Francesco Podesti” by Michele Tripisciano (1860/1913)

In addition bronzes by Venanzo Crocetti (1913/2003), Filippo Cifariello (1864/1936), Francesco Nagni (1897/1977) and others

Terra Cotta Pieces

Relief “Leo XI Medici (1605) received the abjuration of Henry IV” model for the monument in the Basilica of St. Pietro by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)

“The Arts pay homage to Clement XI Albani (1700/21)” 1702 by Pierre Legros (1666/1719)

Group “Achilles and Penthesilea” 1773 by Vincenzo Pacetti (1746/1820)

“Perseus freeing Andromeda” 1786 by the Frenchman Joseph Chinard (1756/1813)

THERE ARE ALSO TERRA COTTA WORKS BY:

Pietro Bracci (1700/73), Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768), Antonio Della Bitta (1807/about 1879), Ettore Ferrari (1845/1929), Carlo Fontana (1865/1956), G.B. Maini (1690/1752), Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725) and Ercole Rosa (1846/93)

BASILICA OF St. SABINA AT THE AVENTINE HILL

BASILICA S. SABINA

Piazza Pietro d'Illiria

Begun by Peter of Illyria in 425 under Pope Celestine I (422/432) on a Titulus Sabinae maybe built in the house of a matron of the same name of the unlikely Umbrian saint martyr under Hadrian

It is the most perfect type of Christian basilica of the fifth century

Completed by Sixtus III (432/440)

Restored by Leo III (795/816)

Enriched by Eugene II (824/827)

RESTORATIONS: 1441, 1481, 1587 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) on behalf of Pope Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90), 1643 Francesco Borromini (1599/1667), 1914/19 and 1936/37 Antonio Muñoz (1884/1960) who brought it to its original form by removing Fontana's overlays

In the SQUARE mask of St. Sabina" moved here in 1937 from the Roman Forum where it used to stand over the enormous granite basin now in front of the Palazzo del Quirinale

St. Dominic de Guzmán (1170/1221) lived and worked here

In the cloister there is a tree of sweet oranges, which according to tradition, St. Dominic brought from Spain. It is visible from the church through a hole in the wall, protected by glass, in front of the wooden portal. It is considered a miracolous tree because it has continued to bear fruits through other trees born from the original

Legend has it that the five candied oranges donated by St. Catherine to Pope Urban VI (1378/89) in 1379, had been taken by the saint from this plant

To the left of the front door there is a "Round black stone on a spiral column": this is called Lapis Diaboli, i.e., devil stone, because according to legend it was thrown by the devil against St. Dominic in prayer but it hit and shattered a marble slab covering the bones of several martyrs

In fact, the marble slab was broken by Domenico Fontana during the 1587 restoration to move the burial place of the martyrs. He threw away the pieces, later recovered and put back together, and now visible in the middle of the choir

ATRIUM

Portal frame with classical marble frame and sensational "Cypress wood doors" about 450:

Twenty-eight frames in relief (ten were lost) restored in 1836 with parallelism between Moses (the Law) and Christ (the Gospel). The "Crucifixion" with open eyes and without a halo is one of the first visual representations of the Crucifixion existing in the world

In the panel with the "Passage of the Red Sea" the restorer replaced the face of the pharaoh who drowned with that of Napoleon

COUNTER FAÇADE

Only remnant of the mosaics dating back to about 435 with the "Metric inscription" written using the beautiful monumental Philocalian capital font mentioning the Council of Ephesus in 431 maybe by Paulinus of Nola, flanked by two female figures representing the "Ecclesia ex Gentibus" (church of the Gentiles, not Jewish) and the "Ecclesia ex Circumcisione" (church of the Jewish)

The Philocalian capital font was devised by the calligrapher Furius Dyonisius Philocalus also author of the oldest Roman calendar of the Church, the Roman Chronograph of 354

TWENTY-FOUR MARBLE COLUMNS maybe from the nearby TEMPLE OF JUNO REGINA

On top and to the sides of the arches most precious "Frieze in opus sectile (inlaid marble)" fifth or sixth century

In the FLOOR "Tombstone of Brother Muñoz Zamora" who died in 1300

RIGHT NAVE

"Pillar" of the pre-existing building embedded in the wall 

CHAPEL OF St. HYACINTH

Vault "Triumph of St. Hyacinth" and walls "Stories of St. Hyacinth" Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

On the altar "Virgin and St. Hyacinth" 1600 Lavinia Fontana (1552/1614)

FURTHER ON, IN THE RIGHT NAVE

"Tomb of Cardinal Auxia" 1484 by an artist of the school of Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)

PRESBYTERY

APSE

"Christ on the mountain surrounded by the apostles" 1560 by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66), restored in 1836 by Vincenzo Camuccini (1771/1844). It repeats the theme of the lost ancient mosaic

LEFT NAVE

CHAPEL D'ELCI or CHAPEL OF St. CATHERINE

1671 G.B. Contini (1641/1723)

On the altar copy of "Madonna of the Rosary with St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena" 1643 by G.B. Salvi aka Sassoferrato (1609/85) now in the Dominican Museum

In the pendentives "Stories of St. Catherine" and in the vault "Triumph of St. Catherine" by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS

In the area north of the church next to the garden remains have been found in cappellaccio stone of the SERVIAN WALLS of the half of the sixth century BC above which tufa stone boulders of Grotta Oscura were stacked when the walls were rebuilt in 378 BC

Both types of material are visible here and are archaeological evidence that can be attached to the written sources describing Rome in the sixth century BC as a huge city with a wall of 11 km (6.8 miles). The walls included an area of 4.26 km ² (1.6 square mile)