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The picture shows a detail of the painting on the ceiling vault of the Salone in the Palazzo Barberini. The ceiling depicts the Triumph of Divina Providentia - Apotheosis of the House of Barberini and the Papacy of Urban VIII.
This ceiling in the reception room at Palazzo Barberini (which now houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica) was the most important single work that helped to make the Baroque the dominant style in Rome, and so over much of Europe, during the seventeenth century.
The orderly clarity of Annibale Carracci's frescos in Palazzo Farnese was replaced by a turbulent composition that was full of spiraling movement. Everything combines to underline the vibrant dynamism of the work. The large scudding clouds and the perspective viewpoints looking up from below were probably inspired by Correggio's examples. But the brand new ingredient was Pietro da Cortona's desire to turn the fresco into a total work of art. The spectator was intended to lose his perception of space when he looked at it and become caught up in a spiritual and esthetic ecstasy. Another hallmark of Baroque was the happy way it mixed different subjects. In this scene, officially on a religious theme, the triumphs of the Barberini dynasty are nearly as apparent as those of Divine Providence as can be seen from the way their heraldic device of flying bees dominates the scene.
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