拍品专文
The present drawing is a study for the head of the angel carrying the cross on the ceiling of the sacristy of the Chiesa Nuova, also called Santa Maria in Vallicella, the church of the Oratorians in Rome, Merz, op. cit., fig. 368. The drawing is dated by Dr. Jörg Merz to the early 1630s, op. cit, 1994, p. 38.
When the sacristy of the Chiesa Nuova was built, between 1629 and September 1632, the padri decided to leave the ceiling bare until 'venga occasione opportuna di qualche buon pittore' (quoted in Merz, op. cit., 1994, p. 38). Six months later, Cortona offered to paint the ceiling and his offer was officially accepted on 18 March 1633. Though, according to Dr. Merz, the offer did not come solely from Cortona, it must have been backed up by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Pope Urban VIII's nephew, then his principal patron. The payment of 250 scudi came on 12 January 1634, once the gilders had finished their work.
The fresco shows the angels holding the Arms of Christ, the instruments of the Passion, illusionistically moving downward towards the altar, where the statue by Algardi of the patron and founder of the Church, Saint Philip Neri, stands, Merz, op. cit., 1991, fig. 367. The angels gaze down at the Saint standing in the niche, and, as in the present drawing, the heads are all slightly turned to the left with the eyes looking down.
Saint Philip Neri was the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, whose aim was to care for the pilgrims who visited Rome. The name of the congregation stemmed from the place where, in the church of San Girolamo, Saint Philip Neri and his five disciples had assembled. In 1575 the Pope gave the Oratorians the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, a small ruined church that Philip Neri rebuilt and re-named Chiesa Nuova. The Saint died in that church in 1595 and was canonized in 1622.
The commission for the ceiling of the sacristy was the first of a series of frescoes for the Chiesa Nuova that Cortona executed, a project which was to occupy him from 1647 to 1665: he painted the cupola, the tribune, the pendentives and the nave.
When the sacristy of the Chiesa Nuova was built, between 1629 and September 1632, the padri decided to leave the ceiling bare until 'venga occasione opportuna di qualche buon pittore' (quoted in Merz, op. cit., 1994, p. 38). Six months later, Cortona offered to paint the ceiling and his offer was officially accepted on 18 March 1633. Though, according to Dr. Merz, the offer did not come solely from Cortona, it must have been backed up by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Pope Urban VIII's nephew, then his principal patron. The payment of 250 scudi came on 12 January 1634, once the gilders had finished their work.
The fresco shows the angels holding the Arms of Christ, the instruments of the Passion, illusionistically moving downward towards the altar, where the statue by Algardi of the patron and founder of the Church, Saint Philip Neri, stands, Merz, op. cit., 1991, fig. 367. The angels gaze down at the Saint standing in the niche, and, as in the present drawing, the heads are all slightly turned to the left with the eyes looking down.
Saint Philip Neri was the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, whose aim was to care for the pilgrims who visited Rome. The name of the congregation stemmed from the place where, in the church of San Girolamo, Saint Philip Neri and his five disciples had assembled. In 1575 the Pope gave the Oratorians the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, a small ruined church that Philip Neri rebuilt and re-named Chiesa Nuova. The Saint died in that church in 1595 and was canonized in 1622.
The commission for the ceiling of the sacristy was the first of a series of frescoes for the Chiesa Nuova that Cortona executed, a project which was to occupy him from 1647 to 1665: he painted the cupola, the tribune, the pendentives and the nave.