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16 Settembre, Martedi |
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written
by Eliana Hechter / 07.04.2004 |
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Itinerary |
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In the large apartment, our day began with granola and tiny toasts after what was for some a long night with the European Studies students. We met in front of the Café Biscione, where Lisa, our guide from Siena, met us. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and the morning was no exception. Sharp squares of light fell onto the cobblestones while we waited for Suzy Brown to arrive. (Kaia was christened Suzy Brown after the leader in the Catacombs, in exasperation with her wanderings among the cubby hole tombs, called for her to hurry up using the diminutive.)
At Lisa’s brisk pace we scuttled through a winding series of streets, passing by the Trevi fountain, and ending up at the Palazzo Barberini. For those who are interested, the key difference between a villa and a palazzo is that a palazzo is a place of permanent residence. I might add that all the villas we have seen so far are attached to grand gardens and grounds that stretch and sprawl into acres, while the palazzos are of more modest size, if not decoration, but this apparently has nothing to do with the actual definition. Lisa is writing her thesis on a ceiling in the palace, which was unfortunately closed when we went to visit. She fondly describes it as tucked away in a back room, painted by an unknown artist and with a subject unknown.
She lectured about the ceiling fresco in the main salon while we sat at the edge of a fountain in the courtyard of the palace. The Sistine Chapel is an important precursor to the fresco in the Palazzo Barberini. To understand the palace, Lisa went on, green eyes glittering, one must imagine Baroque Rome, a time of nepotism. In the 17th century, the writer Gregorio Letti described the time as the “feast day of nepotism”, and the story of the Barberini palace is no exception.
Barberini came from modest means by the standards of the papacy. He was a no-name, suddenly catapulted into the position of Pope and the enormous responsibility, both financial and religious, that came with the title. The palace was built to prove to the world that he was chosen by divine right, and thus the ceiling fresco is titled Divine Providence. Barberini became Pope Urban VIII in 1623 and built the palace beginning in 1626 on a chunk of land his family had acquired with their new riches. Carlo Moderno began work as the principal architect, but (and here Lisa added, lucky for us) died in 1629 and so Bernini and Boromini finished the palace. The palace itself was built for Urban VIII’s nephews, who controlled respectively the sacred and secular branches of the church. The architecture of the palace reflects this division: there are two wings, one which housed the nephew who controlled the sacred branch and the other for the nephew who controlled the secular branch. One of the justifications of this kind of blatant nepotism was that it was necessary for the Pope to be surrounded by people he trusted. The two wings are completely distinct, even stylistically, connected only by the central rooms, of which the main salon is the principal.
Pietro da Cortona painted the ceiling from 1629-1639, with a break in between, during which he went to Venice to study with the masters of illusionism. In 1640, a floor sweeper, tired of explaining the symbolism of every detail in the fresco to every visitor, produced a pamphlet which recorded his account. This pamphlet is an important document because it provides details explained in the time of the construction. Poor Lisa has no such explanation for her ceiling fresco. She urged us to remember that the iconography serves to legitimize the Barberini reign.
The Grand Salon was an audience chamber and was accessible to the public as long as they were properly dressed. It is an enormous room, and the average viewer would probably not have been able to identify all of the symbols present in the huge ceiling fresco. The principal focus of the fresco is the Barberini crest, crossed keys, bees, and laurel, in the style of “stemma in arrivo” – being built before our very eyes by a host of angelic floaters. The personification of divine wisdom is looking on, rays of light pouring from behind her crown. There is an illusion of an open sky above. One interesting aspect Lisa pointed out was the quadroturra, or painted architecture, which binds the images together. Continuing the division of the palace into two wings, the themes of the ceiling on the side of the secular wing have military undertones -- Peace closing the door of the temple of Janice, the chastisement of kings, etc. – while the themes of the ceiling on the side of the sacred wing are distinctly religious. Within the fresco hover Hercules beating out the harpies and Minerva throwing out the giants, both symbols of the battle waged by the church over heresy. The giants appear to be falling into our space. Seen at the “ideal station point” the fresco seems to be three dimensional, looming out of the ceiling. In one corner, two baby bears symbolize prudence. According to legend, their mothers would like them into shape after a formless birth.
Lisa also showed us the ceiling fresco entitled Divine Wisdom in another room, a much simpler painting. It was successful in its time, but today the huge globe dominating the painting seems awkward and misplaced. The imagery in the stucco bordering the ceiling is particularly interesting, even more so because Bernini was very involved in its creation. It shows Daphne turning into the laurel, reaching towards the Barberini sun.
We had a few minutes to wander around and survey the painting collection housed in the rooms. There is a portrait of Raphael’s mistress cradling her breast and a few Caravaggios which are impressive. One in particular, of Narcissus, is especially stunning. Narcissus is kneeling by the side of a glossy pool as though to kiss the still blackness and his faint reflection. The paintings seem at ease between the marble tiles and the canopy of symbolism. The palace is luxurious and beautiful but not in any way is it as revoltingly ornate as some of the things I have seen so far. Shawn pointed out an ugly painting in which a woman, playing the harp, is wearing nothing but drapery and – are those really? Yes they most certainly are – platform shoes.
To finish our survey of the palace we took a tour of the “sacred” wing apartments, redecorated in the 18th century. We walked in spirals up a Boromini staircase with bees at the top of each column. The apartments include chests encrusted with biblical stories done in tortoise shell, a smoking room, a Neoclassic/Rococo dining room with turning shelves which conveyed dinner during theater performances, a vaulted gallery, a Rococo sofa/mirror, unusual for its irregular shape, a music listening room, a Neoclassical bedroom, a wardrobe that folded into a chapel, a Bachelor room, and a chapel to the Virgin, all with paintings on all the walls and low ceilings. A French couple was also on the tour, so the patient tour guide kindly recited everything twice.
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