CORTONA, Pietro da
(b. 1596, Cortona, d. 1669, Roma)

Vault painting

1632
Fresco
Palazzo Barberini, Rome

The picture shows the vault of the so-called Gallerietta in the north wing of the Palazzo Barberini.

The first commission for the painted decor in the Palazzo Barberini was given to Andrea Sacchi who in 1629-30 painted the ceiling of the largest room in the wing occupied by Anna Colonna, Taddeo Barberini's wife. Sacchi painted here the fresco identified as Triumph of Divina Sapientia (divine wisdom). Then in 1631 Pietro da Cortona's coworkers, Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, Giacinto Gimignani, and Pietro Paolo Baldini painted the adjacent chapel, which was consecrated to the crucified Christ (Cappella del Crocifisso). Once the chapel was completed in 1632, the next space to be painted was the so-called Gallerietta on the north side, whose end walls present the painted coats of arms of Taddeo and Francesco Barberini. Cortona furnished the designs for the mainly decorative painting with painted stucco, but left most of the execution of them to his workshop.




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