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Lot Essay
A study for the large picture inserted in the ceiling of the Audience Chamber at the Palazzo Colonna, Rome, F. Titi, Studio di Pittura Scoltura, et Architettura, nelle Chiese di Roma (1674-1763), Florence, 1987, no. 1624, illustrated. The picture was commissioned by Don Fabrizio Colonna (1700-55), Constable of the Kingdom of Naples, around 1718 but no later than 1722, when the present drawing is mentioned in Gabburri's inventory, E.P. Bowron, The Paintings of Benedetto Luti, New York, 1979, I, pp. 208-16. Luti initially conceived an upright composition but later converted it to horizontal format by the simple addition of figures at either side.
The central figure is that of Pope Martin V Colonna (1346-1431) elected Pope on 11 November 1417 at the Council of Constance. Pope Martin V ended the Great Schism of the West and returned to Rome. There he began the reconstruction of the city and introduced important reforms.
The Cardinal Deacon Oddone Colonna, not yet Pope in this composition, is being shown the papal chair on the upper right by a flying angel, symbolizing the sacred college which elected him. A figure kneels before the future Pope presenting a plate with Saint Peter's keys, representing the Kingdom of Heaven and the Authority of the Church. On his right are the three Theological Virtues and on his left the four Cardinal Virtues of Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance. Below him are allegories of Charity with an infant, Constancy, and Fortitude seated on a lion and holding a column, the family emblem. The picture adds, on the left, an angel bearing an olive branch and pursuing Heresy and Schism, and allegories of Faith and Hope, P. Bowron, op. cit., pp. 208-16. During the second part of the 1730s, Pietro Bianchi and Pompeo Batoni were commissioned to supply six allegorical figures to be inserted around Luti's canvas. The former painted Fame enclosing Merit, and the latter Time reavealing Truth; Peace and Justice; Tranquillity; Eternity and Clemency; and Vigilance.
An early sketch for The Allegory of the Elevation of Cardinal Deacon Oddone Colonna, in the same format as the picture, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, P. Ward-Jackson, Italian Drawings, London, 1980, II, no. 1248 (as anonymous). Peter Bowron suggested that this could be the one mentioned in Gabburri's inventories, though the large size and the degree of finish of the present drawing, together with the inscription that it carries, make it a more plausible candidate.
The central figure is that of Pope Martin V Colonna (1346-1431) elected Pope on 11 November 1417 at the Council of Constance. Pope Martin V ended the Great Schism of the West and returned to Rome. There he began the reconstruction of the city and introduced important reforms.
The Cardinal Deacon Oddone Colonna, not yet Pope in this composition, is being shown the papal chair on the upper right by a flying angel, symbolizing the sacred college which elected him. A figure kneels before the future Pope presenting a plate with Saint Peter's keys, representing the Kingdom of Heaven and the Authority of the Church. On his right are the three Theological Virtues and on his left the four Cardinal Virtues of Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance. Below him are allegories of Charity with an infant, Constancy, and Fortitude seated on a lion and holding a column, the family emblem. The picture adds, on the left, an angel bearing an olive branch and pursuing Heresy and Schism, and allegories of Faith and Hope, P. Bowron, op. cit., pp. 208-16. During the second part of the 1730s, Pietro Bianchi and Pompeo Batoni were commissioned to supply six allegorical figures to be inserted around Luti's canvas. The former painted Fame enclosing Merit, and the latter Time reavealing Truth; Peace and Justice; Tranquillity; Eternity and Clemency; and Vigilance.
An early sketch for The Allegory of the Elevation of Cardinal Deacon Oddone Colonna, in the same format as the picture, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, P. Ward-Jackson, Italian Drawings, London, 1980, II, no. 1248 (as anonymous). Peter Bowron suggested that this could be the one mentioned in Gabburri's inventories, though the large size and the degree of finish of the present drawing, together with the inscription that it carries, make it a more plausible candidate.