Art of Renaissance Rome 1400-1600

by Discontinued 3PD

Part of Prentice Hall's new Perspective series of moderately priced, heavily illustrated, high-quality paperback books on specific subjects in art history, this book discusses the art of Rome in the Renaissance in the context of its patronage. It accounts the extraordinary works of art and architecture sponsored by the popes and Roman noble families-churches, palaces, villas, paintings, frescoes, fountains, sculptures, and illustrated books.

Genres: Art, Art History, Architecture

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

Reviews

[Kalliope · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Epilogue or Conclusion, Partridge warns the reader that today’s Rome is more of a Baroque than a Renaissance city, even though the Baroque can be understood as Renaissance on steroids (the second part of the sentence is mine). It is therefore somewhat of a challenge for the visitor to try and trace the buildings, sculptures, paintings and urban planning from the two centuries covered in this book: 1400-1600.

This is my second read. Friends visiting the town last year (October 2019), rented a large apartment and invited me for a week. I read it prior to joining them. Our goal then was to visit a variety of sites, with the antique Roman occupying a preeminent place. Now that I plan to go back in about one week, if Covid-19 permits me, and that the trigger is the exhibition at the Quirinale to commemorate the 500 years since the death of Raphael, I thought this was a good time to visit the book again.



Partridge's account is organized according to types of art or urban activity. Befittingly, it lays out the city in its first chapter. Rome had become a mess during the Middle Ages, the so-called cultural darkness of those centuries certainly did overshadow that city if not others. To worsen matters, in the early fourteenth century the French crown managed to move the Papacy closer to home and had the Popes (mostly French) rule Christianity from Avignon. More trouble followed in the papacy reaching a high point when three individuals claimed at the same time to be the legitimate pope. When things finally solved in Avignon, the winner decided to move the papacy back to Rome. This was in 1420; he prepared the ground (not just literally, but also legally and created an appropriate administrative structure) to start a huge overhaul of the town and make it eternal a few centuries later.



That the reconstruction of its main church, St Peter’s, would take the same amount of time that it took its city to be renewed is most appropriate, and as I have always found rather complex to follow the various sections planned or completed by the string of geniuses such as Bramante, Raffaello, Sangallo, Michelangelo and Della Porta (Bernini worked the Baroque sections), I was glad a section was dedicated to this. But Partridge also discusses churches that I could not visit last October but that I hope will manage this time, such as Santa Maria del Popolo and San Pietro in Montorio (with its Tempietto by Bramante). Il Gesù, the model for most Jesuit architecture thereafter, I did visit one night.




The problem with the palaces is that many cannot be visited, or at least not easily. One of the most formidable is Palazzo FarnesePalazzo della Cancellerria since it was the first one to be constructed, from its first stone in the new Renaissance style. The promoter was one of the nipoti from Sixtus IV (a Della Rovere), Cardinal Riario. He funded the palace from his winnings in gambling. Not included in the book but part of my next itinerary will be Villa Farnese in the Trastevere section. There Raphael painted the famous Galatea for the banker Agostino Chigi.



The chapter dedicated to Altarpieces held my attention because it includes a beautiful painting that I saw in Naples, but which depicts the founding of Sta Maria Maggiore during a miraculous snow in a fourth century summer. Another one is found in what must be a lovely church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, but which was closed last October due to some structural problems related to the building. It is very close to the Pantheon, has a good gelateria nearby, and hopefully it will open during my upcoming trip. It is the annunciation by Filippo Lippi. The play of space between the section framed with the holy scene, and the one depicted in the surrounding walls is exquisite.



Chapel decoration expectedly has the Sixtine frescoes by Raphael, but I was surprised by the delightful ones by Fra Angelico in another Vatican chapel, that of Nicholas V painted about sixty years earlier. They present the lives of saints Stephe and Lawrence. The Carafa Chapel in the already mentioned Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which holds the Lippi work.



And since religion was so very intricately connected to lay power, the last chapter is dedicated to Halls of State. There one finds the discussion of the extraordinary Sala dei Santi in the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican. They were decorated by Pinturicchio. On the walls we have expected themes, such as scenes from the Bible and from various saints, but the vault. My! The vault! They represent the myths of Osiris and Isis (Partridge explains that these Egyptian deities were part of the esoteric interests of pope Borgia’s secretary: Giovanni Annio of Viterbo.



This is cursory account of what this book offers. What it calls for is for more readings. I have felt as overwhelmed by the treasures it presents almost as much as the city of Rome will always daunt any of its visitors.

[Andrea M]

This book has a section on Renaissance architecture with the building footprints. I studied this in my college architecture classes. A good, but difficult, read for anyone interested in studying architecture.